On average, people spend almost half of their lives at work. The are exposed to a number of factors in this work environment. Given the riskiness of some of them, employers have a legal obligation to create working conditions that enable employees to carry out their work without harm to their health. One of the employer’s obligations is to provide a first aid kit in the workplace.
If insufficient attention is paid to working conditions, work-related accidents, injuries and other work-related illnesses can occur, increasing overall morbidity and reducing the activity and quality of the work performed. It is therefore in the interests of both employees and employers to ensure safety. That every effort is made to create favourable conditions and to provide measures in the event of risk factors disrupting the ideal organisation of work. This brings us to the employer’s obligation to equip the workplace with the necessary first-aid kits.
In the Slovak Republic, there is no legal regulation that defines and specifies exactly what a first-aid kit should contain. For this reason, the employer must base his decision on several factors. The nature of the work to be performed at the workplace and the number of employees present at the workplace. And accordingly draw up a written document on the existing hazards, risks and dangers. (Note: this document is part of our OSH documentation.) It is only then that the necessary contents of the first aid kit at the employer’s workplace will be determined from this risk assessment document.
The contents of the first aid kit should therefore be consulted with the safety engineer. And the person authorised to provide occupational health services, or the occupational health service (OHS).
There is no one-size-fits-all package for all workplaces, but it is generally advisable to have a thermometer, tweezers and a first aid manual in addition to medicines, disinfectants, packaging material (bandages, dressings) and drapes in the first-aid kit.
However, once a risk assessment document has been drawn up and the contents of the first aid kit have been taken into account, the employer’s obligations in this area do not end there. It is necessary for the employer to have a so-called internal regulation on first aid kits. The content of this document is as follows:
- information on the person responsible for the content and regular checking
- of the first aid kit and the expiry dates of its contents
- information on the person who refills the contents
- information on the location of the first aid box
- details on how and where to call for first aid if necessary
- information on the demonstrable awareness of the information referred to in points 1 to 4 among staff
As regards the location of the first aid box, the law does not specify the exact location required, but the requirement that the first aid box must be easily accessible to all employees and visibly marked must be met.
In relation to the first aid box, the employer is also obliged to establish a first aid station in the workplace. Such a place must be marked in the workplace with an appropriate sign – a white cross on a green background. The employer is advised to consult the first aid post with the OHS engineer and the OHS officer based on the workplace risk assessment document.
Employers operating company (company) vehicles are of course obliged to provide a first aid box in all vehicles so driven and to check the expiry date regularly.
Related regulations
Act No 355/2007 Coll. of the National Assembly of the Slovak Republic on the protection, promotion and development of public health, as amended
Slovak Government Regulation No. 391/2006 Coll. on minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace
Slovak Government Regulation No 387/2006 Coll. on requirements for ensuring safety and health marking at work
Decree of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic No 143/2009 Coll. laying down the types and contents of first aid kits for road transport
