Every week, we receive questions from you about your most pressing health and safety issues. These questions are answered as part of the helpdesk service we provide for our subscribers.

Since everyone can learn from the answers our experts provide, we share up to 10 Q&As in each update, as well as having decided to share the wealth of knowledge the helpdesk is by publishing at least one topical or popular question and its answer in a bulletin every fortnight.

It’s another way we are committed to keeping you and your employees safer and healthier!

Question: When do we need to keep first aid kits in company vehicles?

I’d like to know whether we need to put first aid kits in all our company vehicles. Does this only apply to employees who use company vehicles on a daily basis, or does it also apply to employees who occasionally travel in their private vehicles?

Answer:

You should base your decision to supply first aid kits in company vehicles on the risks you assess, e.g. if you transport chemical substances or if you’re transporting employees. In both cases the drivers should do first aid training to enable them to use the first aid kit in case of emergency or injury.

On the other hand, your company could decide to give each employee a travel first aid pouch for their vehicles, but the motivation won’t then be risk driven, but rather a management decision.