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Industrial Safety Equipment & PPE — ANSI/OSHA Compliant
Industrial Safety Equipment & PPE — ANSI/OSHA Compliant
July 18, 2026 Updated July 18, 2026 Steven Eaton

ANSI Class A vs Class B First Aid Kits: Which Does OSHA Expect? (2026)

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OSHA doesn't publish a first aid shopping list — 29 CFR 1910.151 says supplies must be "readily available" and adequate to the workplace. The list everyone actually uses is ANSI/ISEA Z308.1, which defines two kit classes: Class A, an assortment for the common injuries of lower-risk workplaces (offices, light retail, light service), and Class B, a broader and larger assortment for higher-risk, higher-population, or more complex environments — construction, manufacturing, warehousing.

The class describes the contents. A separate Type rating (I through IV) describes the container — from fixed indoor cabinets to rugged portable cases for outdoor and vehicle use. This guide covers both axes and maps our stocked kits, cabinets, and refills to each.

Quick Decision — Class A Kits vs. Class B Kits
  • Class A when: the hazard assessment reads office/light-duty — minor cuts, abrasions, sprains are the expected injury profile
  • Class B when: the environment is higher-risk or higher-headcount — construction, manufacturing, warehouses, shops with powered equipment — or injuries could be severe
  • When in doubt: buy B — the price difference is small against the coverage difference, and "we had the office kit" is a bad line in an incident report

Key Differences: Class A Kits vs. Class B Kits

Feature Class A Kits Class B Kits
Intended environment Lower-risk workplaces Higher-risk / complex environments
Contents breadth Core item categories ✓ All Class A categories + more items
Item quantities Baseline counts ✓ Larger counts for bigger crews
Padded splint required in class ✗ No ✓ Yes
Typical settings Offices, retail, light service Construction, manufacturing, warehousing
Stocked formats Kits, cabinets, refills Kits, cabinets, refills
Container Type ratings available I–IV by product I–IV by product
Stocked price range $17.70 – $149.95 $49.95 – $239.95
OSHA citation basis if inadequate 1910.151 (adequacy) 1910.151 (adequacy)

Class A Kits: The Baseline for Lower-Risk Workplaces

A Class A assortment covers the injury profile of ordinary indoor work: adhesive bandages, larger dressings and gauze, adhesive tape, antiseptics, burn treatment, gloves, a breathing barrier, cold pack, eye covering and eyewash, and the other core categories Z308.1 lists, in baseline quantities. For an office, a shop-front, or a light-service crew, that's genuinely adequate — the standard's authors sized it to the statistics of those environments.

Format matters as much as class. The stocked Ever Ready and ProHeal 10-person kits cover small crews and vehicles; the EVERLIT 400-piece is a Type III portable for mixed indoor-outdoor duty; and for fixed locations, the EVERLIT CARE 2-shelf (50-person) and UniShield 3-shelf metal cabinets put Class A coverage on the wall where OSHA's "readily available" test is easiest to pass. Keep cabinets stocked with dated refills — an empty cabinet is a compliance failure with a door on it.

Class A Picks

Class B Kits: Built for Higher-Risk Environments

Class B takes every Class A category, raises the quantities for larger and more exposed crews, and adds the items the higher-risk injury profile demands — notably a padded splint, with broader dressing and bleeding-control coverage across the assortment. The intent is blunt: where powered equipment, heights, vehicles, and materials handling live, injuries run worse, responders need more, and running out mid-incident is the failure the class exists to prevent.

The stocked Class B range spans the formats: the Ever Ready 190-piece wall-mount kit as the compact jobsite standard, the Urgent First Aid 50-person refill (built to the 2021 edition of Z308.1) for restocking existing cabinets, and the big fixed stations — MFASCO's 415-piece 3-shelf and UniShield's 775+-piece 4-shelf steel cabinets, with a UniShield restaurant-specific cabinet for food-service compliance. For severe-bleeding readiness beyond the kit class, dedicated trauma and bleeding-control kits (tourniquet-equipped) are their own category — see the first aid kits collection.

Class B Picks

Use-Case Decision Guide

Offices and Retail — Class A, Wall-Mounted

A Class A cabinet or wall-mount kit per floor or work area, positioned where any employee can reach it quickly, satisfies the 1910.151 pattern for low-hazard work. Assign an owner to inspect monthly and reorder from refill packs — adequacy decays item by item as the bandages walk away.

Construction Sites — Class B, Portable and Per-Crew

Jobsites are the canonical Class B environment: higher injury severity, crews spread across a site, weather. The Ever Ready wall-mount travels between trailer and floor stations; Type III-rated cases handle the elements. Many GCs specify Class B per crew or per level in their safety plans — check the site's requirements before mobilizing.

Manufacturing and Warehousing — Class B Cabinets at Density

Fixed stations sized to the shift population: the MFASCO and UniShield multi-shelf cabinets put Class B depth at the points of risk (machine areas, docks) rather than one central location a forklift ride away. "Readily available" is a travel-time test — walk it and time it.

Vehicles and Field Crews — Class A or B in a Rated Portable Case

Service trucks and field teams carry the class their hazard profile demands in a Type III (or rugged Type IV) case that tolerates the vehicle environment. The MFASCO metal-case vehicle kit and EVERLIT Type III cover this duty; see also our vehicle first aid kit guide.

Restaurants and Food Service — Class B Restaurant Configurations

Burns, lacerations, and slips concentrate in kitchens, and health inspections add their own expectations. The UniShield restaurant cabinet packages Class B coverage in a food-service-oriented configuration (including blue-detectable dressings' logic of visibility in food areas). Mount it outside the immediate cook line but inside the travel-time test.

Frequently Asked Questions — Class A Kits vs. Class B Kits

Does OSHA require an ANSI Class A or Class B kit by name?

No — OSHA 1910.151 requires adequate, readily available supplies for your hazards, and ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 classes are the consensus definition of adequacy that inspectors, insurers, and safety programs use in practice. Buying to the class that matches your hazard assessment is how you make "adequate" defensible.

What exactly does a Class B kit add over Class A?

All the Class A item categories in larger quantities, plus additional items for higher-risk environments — the padded splint is the signature addition. The result is a kit sized for worse injuries and bigger crews, not a different kind of kit.

What do the Type I–IV ratings mean?

The container's duty rating: Type I fixed indoor (cabinets), Type II portable indoor, Type III portable and mountable with water resistance for mixed indoor/outdoor use, Type IV rugged and waterproof for harsh outdoor and vehicle duty. Class is contents; Type is the box. A jobsite might need Class B contents in a Type III case.

How many people does one kit cover?

Kits state their intended crew size (10-person, 25-person, 50-person) based on quantity scaling. Over-capacity is the common failure: a 10-person kit serving a 40-person shift empties on the first real incident. Count the shift, not the company roster, and scale up or add stations.

Which edition of Z308.1 should my kit cite?

The current edition — stocked refills like the Urgent First Aid Class B are built to the 2021 edition. The 2021 revision updated required contents, so a kit assembled to an old edition may fall short of current expectations; check the edition on the label when comparing kits, and verify contents against the edition cited.

Do these kits include medications?

Varies by product — some workplaces exclude oral medications deliberately (liability and policy reasons), and configurations like the MFASCO 415-piece are explicitly no-medication builds while the UniShield Class B refill includes medications. Match your company policy; both configurations can be class-compliant.

Are tourniquets included — and do I need one?

Check each kit's contents list rather than assuming — bleeding-control expectations have strengthened in recent editions, and many workplaces now add dedicated tourniquet-equipped bleeding-control kits alongside the ANSI kit, especially around machinery and vehicles. We stock dedicated bleeding-control kits (North American Rescue C-A-T-equipped) in the first aid collection for exactly that gap.

How often should kits be inspected and restocked?

Monthly inspection is the standard practice: verify contents against the kit's list, replace used and expired items (sterile items and treatments carry dates), and log it. Refill packs — the stocked Class A 25-person and Class B 50-person refills — exist so restocking doesn't mean rebuying cabinets.

Where should kits be mounted?

Inside a short, unobstructed walk from where injuries happen — that's the practical reading of "readily available." Mark locations with signage, keep access clear (a first aid cabinet behind pallet stock fails the test), and add stations rather than centralizing when travel time grows.

Can one big Class B cabinet cover a whole facility?

Only if every work area passes the travel-time test to reach it. Density beats size: two or three stations at the points of risk outperform one large cabinet at the office. Use the big 3- and 4-shelf cabinets as area stations in large facilities, not as the single source.

What about eyewash — is that part of the kit class?

Kit classes include eye coverage and small eyewash quantities, but plumbed or gravity-fed eyewash stations under ANSI Z358.1 are a separate requirement triggered by corrosive-material exposure (OSHA 1910.151(c)). If your processes involve corrosives, budget eyewash as its own line item — the kit's bottles don't satisfy it.

Class A price vs Class B price — is the upgrade worth it?

The stocked spread runs roughly $18–$150 for Class A formats and $50–$240 for Class B. Against the cost of a single inadequately-treated jobsite injury, the delta is noise. Buy the class the hazard assessment indicates; when the assessment is honestly ambiguous, buy B.

About the Author

Steven Eaton, WC Safety Editorial. 10+ years in industrial PPE supply and compliance.

Compliance Note

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.151 requires adequate first aid supplies readily available for a workplace's hazards; ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 is the consensus standard used to define "adequate." Match the kit's stated Z308.1 edition and class to your hazard assessment.

WC Safety Editorial Standards

Content is independent of manufacturer relationships. Product picks are based on standards compliance and field performance.

Affiliate Disclosure

WC Safety is an Amazon Associate. We earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

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