British Standard 8599-1 Review
BS 8599-1:2011 was published in June 2011 by the British Standard Institution and it was designed to replace the British Healthcare Trade Association HSE guidelines for 1, 10, 20 and 50 person statutory first aid kits from 31st December 2011.
British Standards are open to review after 5 years if feedback from users would prompt some beneficial changes and thus an update to the specifications.
This standard for Workplace First Aid Kits has now been reviewed and in January 2019, a new standard was published (BS 8599-1:2019).
Please note: Conforming with the British Standard is voluntary and not required by law, however with any safety or health related product we would highly recommend that products with certification are considered first. The new kits can be ordered through our website, or alternatively you can place an order with our customer support team on: 0800 612 6537
What has changed in BS 8599-1:2019?
In addition to the small, medium, large and travel size kits, the launch of BS 8599-1:2019 has triggered the introduction of the Critical Injury Pack and the Personal Issue First Aid Kit. Both are designed to be lightweight and easy to access in the event of an emergency. The Personal Issue First Aid Kit is designed for sole individuals and contains essential first aid products enabling basic, but effective first aid treatment. The Critical Injury Pack is slightly larger and contains more advanced first aid products designed to treat bleeding injuries that are potentially life threatening.
Alongside the creation of the new kits, there have been a few minor changes to the composition of the workplace first aid kits:
- Safety pins are no longer supplied with the kits in order to reduce the number of needle stick injuries
- The number of tape rolls has been increased in the medium and large first aid kits
- The number of medium dressings has been reduced in all kits whilst the number of large dressings has been increased
Finally, the Travel and Motoring Kit, previously Travel First Aid Kit, has received a contents update so it now conforms with the requirements of the British Standard for motor vehicle first aid kits (BS 8599-2:2014).