A workplace first aid kit should contain, at minimum, bandages, gauze pads, adhesive tape, antibiotic ointment, gloves, scissors, and a foil blanket. The exact contents depend on your workplace risk level, but the national standard (ANSI/ISEA Z308.1-2021) divides kits into two classes: Class A for lower-risk environments like offices, and Class B for higher-risk settings like warehouses, construction sites, and manufacturing floors. Federal safety regulations require “adequate first aid supplies” but don’t spell out a specific item list, so the ANSI standard is the benchmark most employers follow.
What OSHA Actually Requires
OSHA’s general industry regulation (29 CFR 1910.151) states that “adequate first aid supplies shall be readily available” whenever there’s no clinic or hospital close to the workplace. The rule is intentionally broad. It doesn’t name specific items or quantities, which means compliance depends on matching your supplies to the hazards your employees actually face. In practice, most safety professionals use the ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 standard as their checklist, and OSHA inspectors generally accept kits that meet it.
One thing OSHA is specific about: response time. In workplaces where serious injuries are possible (falls, amputations, electrocution), emergency medical care must be reachable within 3 to 4 minutes. In lower-risk offices, a response window of up to 15 minutes is considered reasonable. This matters for kit placement. If your building is large, you may need multiple kits positioned so no employee is far from one.
Class A Kit: The Office and Low-Risk Baseline
A Class A kit covers the basics for typical office environments, retail spaces, and other settings where the most common injuries are small cuts, minor burns, and sprains. The 2021 standard requires these kits to include:
- Adhesive bandages (assorted sizes)
- Adhesive tape
- Antibiotic ointment packets
- Sterile gauze pads (3×3 inches)
- Trauma pads (5×9 inches, for larger wounds)
- Roller bandage
- Scissors
- Disposable gloves
- Foil blanket (made mandatory in the 2021 revision)
- Breathing barrier (for CPR)
- Hand sanitizer or antiseptic
These quantities are designed for small teams of roughly two to three people. If your office has 20 or 50 employees, you need either more kits or kits stocked with higher quantities.
Class B Kit: Higher-Risk Workplaces
Class B kits are meant for environments where injuries tend to be more severe: construction, manufacturing, logging, landscaping, and similar trades. They contain everything in a Class A kit, but in larger quantities and with critical additions:
- 50 adhesive bandages (1×3 inches)
- 25 antibiotic application packets
- A splint (4×24 inches)
- A tourniquet (at least 1 inch wide)
- 4 trauma pads (5×9 inches)
- 4 sterile pads (3×3 inches)
- Roller bandage (4 inches wide)
- Scissors
- Adhesive tape (2.5 yards total)
The 2021 update to the standard added more specific requirements for tourniquets and expanded guidance on bleeding control kits. If your workplace involves machinery, sharp tools, or any risk of deep lacerations or crush injuries, a tourniquet is no longer optional. It’s a core component.
Additions for Specific Industries
Some industries have their own OSHA standards that go beyond the general rule. The logging standard, for example, mandates a very specific kit that includes two triangular bandages, two elastic wraps, large gauze pads (8×10 inches), tweezers, a blanket, resuscitation equipment like a pocket mask, wound cleaning towelettes, and printed directions for requesting emergency assistance. That last item is easy to overlook but important for remote worksites where employees may not know local emergency numbers or GPS coordinates.
Construction sites, kitchens, and chemical handling facilities each bring their own common injuries. For workplaces where employees handle corrosive chemicals, OSHA requires eyewash stations or flushing equipment, not just a bottle of saline in the kit. Kitchens benefit from burn gel and non-stick burn dressings. Workplaces at elevation or in extreme temperatures should stock extra foil blankets and cold/heat packs.
What About Pain Relievers and Medications?
Over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen or aspirin are not part of the ANSI standard, and many employers avoid stocking them in communal kits. The concern is liability: allergic reactions, drug interactions, and the question of who is “dispensing” the medication. Some companies work around this by providing individually sealed, single-dose packets in original packaging with full labeling, but this is a policy decision, not a regulatory requirement. If your workplace wants to include OTC medications, check with your legal or HR team first.
How Many Kits You Need
OSHA’s guidance is straightforward: the standard kit contents are designed for small groups of two to three workers. For larger operations, you should either add more kits or increase the quantities inside each one. The goal is that every employee can reach first aid supplies quickly, which in high-risk workplaces means within 3 to 4 minutes of an injury.
A practical approach is to place a kit on every floor, in every wing, and near any area with elevated hazard, like a loading dock, workshop, or commercial kitchen. Outdoor worksites with crews spread across a large area may need a kit with each team. Wall-mounted kits should be clearly marked, unobstructed, and known to every employee, not tucked in a closet that only the office manager can find.
Keeping Your Kit Current
A first aid kit that sits untouched for two years will fail you when it matters. Adhesive bandages dry out, antibiotic ointment expires, and gloves degrade. Assign someone to inspect each kit on a regular schedule, checking for expired items, used-up supplies, and packaging that’s been opened or damaged. Many workplaces tie this to a monthly safety walkthrough.
After any incident where the kit is used, restock it immediately. Keep a simple inventory card inside the kit so the person checking it can see at a glance what should be there and what’s missing. Some employers use pre-packaged refill kits from safety suppliers, which makes restocking faster and ensures nothing gets forgotten.
Items People Often Forget
Beyond the standard checklist, a few items consistently prove useful but get left out. An instant cold pack helps with sprains and bumps. A permanent marker is useful for writing the time a tourniquet was applied. A pair of tweezers handles splinters, which are among the most common minor workplace injuries. And a simple card with emergency phone numbers, your building address, and the nearest hospital’s location can save critical seconds when someone is panicking.
Nitrile gloves are worth stocking instead of latex, since latex allergies are common enough that you don’t want to create a second problem while treating the first. Include multiple pairs, because gloves tear, and any situation involving blood requires a fresh pair for each person who helps.