Workplace First Aid Kit Inspection Checklist: OSHA & ANSI Z308.1 (2026 Guide)

How do you inspect a workplace first aid kit?

Published August 16, 2026

Short answer: Work through a first aid kit inspection checklist on a fixed cadence: confirm the kit is accessible and undamaged, verify every required item type for its ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 class is present at or above minimum quantity, pull anything expired or with broken sterile packaging, restock what was used, and sign and date the record. General industry sets no fixed interval — OSHA 29 CFR 1910.151(b) requires supplies to be "adequate" and "readily available" at all times, which is a maintenance duty. Construction is stricter: 29 CFR 1926.50(d)(2) requires the kit to be checked before it is sent out on each job and at least weekly on each job.

Workplace First Aid Kit Inspection Checklist: OSHA and ANSI Z308.1 (2026 Guide)

A stocked first aid kit on the day it was mounted proves nothing a year later. Supplies get used and never replaced, antiseptics and eyewash pass their expiration dates, and cabinets get blocked by pallets — and each of those failures can turn an initially compliant kit into a citable one, because the duty in 29 CFR 1910.151(b) is continuous: adequate first aid supplies shall be readily available. This first aid kit inspection checklist is written for the person who actually owns that duty — the safety manager, office manager, or site supervisor who signs the inspection card — and it covers the general industry rule, the construction-specific weekly check most programs miss, a printable pass/fail checklist, and the restocking and documentation workflow that keeps a kit defensible between inspections.

Why this matters.
OSHA compliance officers have cited employers for depleted and expired first aid kits even when the kit was compliant when purchased, because 1910.151(b) is a performance duty that applies every day, not a one-time stocking requirement. On construction sites the exposure is sharper: 29 CFR 1926.50(d)(2) names an explicit cadence — checked before being sent out on each job and at least weekly on each job — and a program that cannot show weekly checks has no paper trail to stand on.

What OSHA actually requires — and where the weekly rule hides

General industry: an adequacy duty, not an interval

For general industry, 1910.151(b) says adequate first aid supplies shall be readily available, and stops there. No inspection interval appears in the regulation. The non-mandatory Appendix A to 1910.151 points to ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 as an example of the minimal contents of a generic first aid kit and tells employers to assess their worksite needs periodically and augment the kit appropriately — guidance, not a schedule. In practice most safety programs adopt monthly inspections as the minimum cadence, and that convention is defensible precisely because the underlying duty is continuous: the shorter the gap between checks, the shorter the window in which a depleted kit can be discovered by an injury — or an inspector — instead of by you. The full breakdown of what the regulation obligates lives in our reference explainer, OSHA first aid kit requirements.

Construction: 1926.50(d)(2) is the paragraph most programs miss

Construction's first aid standard contains the only hard inspection frequency OSHA writes for first aid kits. 1926.50(d)(2) requires that kit contents be placed in a weatherproof container with individual sealed packages for each type of item, and that the employer check the kit before it is sent out on each job and at least weekly on each job to ensure expended items are replaced. That is three separate obligations in one paragraph: a container spec, a unit-packaging spec, and a two-trigger inspection cadence. A crew kit that rides in a gang box, a vehicle first aid kit in a work truck, and a wall kit in the site trailer all carry the same weekly floor while the job runs.

What ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 adds

ANSI/ISEA Z308.1-2021 is a voluntary consensus standard, not an OSHA regulation — OSHA cites it as an example rather than a rule it enforces. But it is the yardstick an inspection is measured against, because it defines the two kit classes and their minimum fills: Class A for the injury profile of ordinary lower-risk work, Class B with higher quantities plus a splint and a tourniquet for higher-risk environments. An inspection without a class benchmark is just tidying; the checklist below assumes you know which class your kit is stocked to. If you do not, start with our ANSI Class A vs Class B first aid kits comparison, then come back.

The first aid kit inspection checklist

Run every row on every kit, cabinet, and vehicle kit at the site. A kit passes only when every row passes.

The eight-step inspection procedure

The checklist tells you what to verify; this is the order that makes the walk-through fast and repeatable.

1. Confirm access before touching the kit. Stand where an injured worker would start from. If the cabinet is blocked, locked without a posted key arrangement, or hidden, fix access first — it is the one failure that defeats every other pass.
2. Check the container. Hinges, latches, wall mount, gasket if fitted. A vehicle or outdoor kit must still seal weatherproof; construction kits must hold individually sealed packages per 1926.50(d)(2).
3. Empty and count against the class fill. Lay contents out and count each item type against the Z308.1 class minimum for the kit — a Class A count checked against no benchmark is not an inspection. Kits stocked from our first aid kits and first aid cabinets collections publish their class on the listing.
4. Pull expired and compromised stock. Check every printed date and every sterile wrapper. Anything expired, opened, soiled, or crushed leaves the kit now, not at restock time.
5. Restock to minimum or above. Replace pulled items from stocked refill packs rather than loose purchases where possible — first aid kit refills are sold against A and B fills, which keeps the count math honest.
6. Verify the hazard-specific layer. Burn dressings near hot work and kitchens (burn care), bleeding control where machinery or vehicles run, eyewash where dust and splash live. This layer comes from the site's needs assessment, not from the class fill alone.
7. Check adjacent equipment while standing there. Eyewash stations against their own weekly activation duty under ANSI Z358.1, and AEDs per the manufacturer's inspection specification — both live outside the kit but share the inspection trip.
8. Sign, date, and log the earliest expiration. Record inspector, date, items restocked, and the next item to expire. Writing the earliest date on the card converts the next inspection from a full recount into a targeted check.

Inspection frequency by workplace type

Expiration dates: what actually goes out of date

The dated items in a typical workplace kit are the antiseptics and wipes, antibiotic ointment, burn gel and burn dressings, eyewash solution, hand sanitizer, instant cold packs in some lines, any over-the-counter medications the program stocks, and sterile dressings whose sterility is only warranted to a printed date. Adhesive bandages and tape age more slowly but fail functionally — adhesive that no longer sticks is as expired as a dated wipe. Expired items no longer deliver the performance the class fill assumes, and an inspector can treat a kit full of expired supplies as inadequate under 1910.151(b) even when every count is right. The practical control is the one from the procedure above: log the earliest expiration date at every inspection, and restock from class-matched first aid kit refills so replacement stock arrives unit-packaged and dated.

The inspection record

OSHA does not prescribe a first aid inspection log for general industry — which is exactly why the record matters: on a construction site it is the only evidence the 1926.50(d)(2) weekly cadence actually happened, and in general industry it is what converts "we check it" into a defensible program. A complete record is four fields: date, inspector, items restocked, earliest expiration remaining. Keep a card inside the kit lid and a copy wherever the safety program files live. The non-mandatory Appendix A to 1910.151 adds the sizing feedback loop most programs skip: review your OSHA 300 and 301 logs for what injuries the site actually produces, and let that history — not the catalog page — drive what the kit carries beyond its class minimum.

Worked example: monthly cabinet inspection at a 75-person facility

A 75-person light-manufacturing facility runs one wall cabinet stocked to Class B at the production floor, a Class A kit in the office wing, and a vehicle kit in the delivery truck. The monthly walk-through looks like this: the inspector starts at the production cabinet, confirms nothing is staged in front of it, lays out the fill and counts against the Class B minimums, pulls two expired antiseptic sachets and a crushed sterile pad, verifies the splint and tourniquet are present, and restocks from an on-hand Class B refill pack. The office Class A kit gets the same count at smaller quantities. The truck kit gets the weatherproof-container check plus a heat-degradation look at its dated stock, because a cab in August is an oven. Eyewash bottles at the chemical bench are checked in date — and because corrosives are in use, the plumbed station's own weekly activation record is confirmed separately, since a bottle is supplementary to a Z358.1 station, never a substitute (our ANSI Z358.1 eyewash station requirements guide covers that duty, and the eyewash and safety shower compliance checker scores a station in about two minutes). Twenty minutes, three signed cards, and the earliest expiration on each card sets next month's shopping list. Cabinet formats that make this workflow fast are compared in best first aid cabinets, and complete OSHA-oriented kits in best workplace first aid kits.

Frequently asked questions

How often does OSHA require first aid kits to be inspected?

For general industry, OSHA sets no fixed interval — 1910.151(b) requires supplies to be adequate and readily available at all times, which most programs satisfy with a monthly check. For construction, 1926.50(d)(2) is explicit: the kit must be checked before being sent out on each job and at least weekly on each job.

What does OSHA 1926.50(d)(2) require?

Three things: kit contents in a weatherproof container, individual sealed packages for each type of item, and employer checks before the kit is sent out on each job plus at least weekly on each job so expended items are replaced. It is the only place OSHA writes a hard first aid kit inspection frequency.

Does OSHA require a first aid kit inspection log?

No general industry rule prescribes a log. On construction sites the record is how you evidence the weekly 1926.50(d)(2) cadence, and in any inspection or incident investigation a signed, dated card is the difference between a program and a claim. Four fields cover it: date, inspector, items restocked, earliest expiration remaining.

What should I check during a first aid kit inspection?

Access, container condition, class match, every required item type, quantities against the class minimum, sterile packaging integrity, expiration dates, gloves, eye care, CPR barrier, Class B bleeding-control items, and the record itself. The checklist table above pairs each check with its pass criteria and the authority behind it.

Do first aid supplies expire?

The dated layer does: antiseptics, ointments, burn gel, eyewash solution, sanitizer, medications, and sterile dressings whose sterility is warranted only to the printed date. Adhesives fail functionally with age even without a date. Pull anything expired at every inspection and restock from class-matched refill packs.

Who should inspect the workplace first aid kit?

Assign it to a named owner — typically the safety manager, a trained first aid responder under 1926.50(c) on construction sites, or the facility or office manager in general industry. A kit everyone is responsible for is a kit nobody checked.

Is a monthly first aid kit inspection enough?

In general industry, monthly is the accepted convention and usually defensible, provided usage also triggers an immediate restock. On an active construction job it is not enough — 1926.50(d)(2) sets the floor at weekly.

Do Class A and Class B kits get inspected differently?

The procedure is identical; the benchmark differs. Class B carries higher minimum quantities plus a splint and a tourniquet, so its count takes longer and its bleeding-control row actually has items to verify. The class definitions are in our Class A vs Class B guide.

What is the weatherproof container requirement?

1926.50(d)(2) requires construction kit contents to sit in a weatherproof container with individually sealed packages per item type. For general industry it is not a written rule but the same logic applies to any kit that rides in a vehicle or lives outdoors — moisture ruins sterile stock silently.

Does eyewash count as part of the kit inspection?

Check kit eyewash bottles for date and seal during the kit walk-through — but where corrosives are in use, 1910.151(c) and 1926.50(g) require drenching facilities, and a bottle is supplementary to a plumbed or self-contained ANSI Z358.1 station, never a substitute. Stations carry their own weekly activation duty, covered in our Z358.1 guide.

Should AEDs be inspected with the first aid kit?

Yes, on the same trip — OSHA's shipyard first aid appendix states the principle that applies everywhere: inspect, test, and maintain AEDs in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications. Pads and batteries carry expiration dates just like kit stock. Response-side supplies live in our CPR and rescue supplies collection.

What triggers a restock besides the calendar?

Any use of the kit, any incident on site, and any change in the work that changes the hazard profile. Appendix A to 1910.151 also points at your OSHA 300 and 301 logs — if the injury history shows lacerations the kit keeps running out of dressings for, the fill is wrong, not the schedule.

Can OSHA cite an employer for expired first aid supplies?

Yes — under 1910.151(b), because expired supplies are no longer adequate, even when present in the right counts. Citations for depleted and expired kits are among the most common first aid findings in general industry inspections.

Is there a legally required first aid kit checklist form?

No. OSHA prescribes neither a form nor, for general industry, an interval. The checklist on this page maps every row to the duty it satisfies, which is what an inspector or an insurer actually asks for — evidence the program checks the right things on a stated cadence.

How do I inspect a vehicle first aid kit?

Same rows, two extras: confirm the container still seals weatherproof, and inspect dated items harder — cab heat cycling degrades gel, ointment, and adhesive well before printed dates in hot climates. Kits built for that duty are in our vehicle first aid kits collection.

How many first aid kits does a workplace need to inspect?

Every one on the premises — including the vehicle kits and the forgotten office-wing cabinet. How many a site should have in the first place is a kit-quantity and placement question covered in our OSHA first aid kit requirements explainer.

Further reading on this site

• OSHA first aid kit requirements — the full decode of 1910.151, 1926.50, and the Class A/B contents tables this checklist audits against.
• ANSI Class A vs Class B first aid kits — which class benchmark your inspection should count against.
• First aid kit refills — class-matched restock packs that keep the count math honest.
• Best first aid cabinets — wall-mount formats that make the monthly walk-through fast.
• Best workplace first aid kits — complete OSHA-oriented kits ranked by facility size.
• Workplace first aid kits — the full category, Class A and B.
• Eyewash stations — the Z358.1 layer the kit bottle only supplements.
• First aid kit selector — five questions map your setting, headcount and hazards to the class and format this checklist then audits.
• Do first aid supplies expire — the item-by-item chart behind the expiration row.
• Workplace first aid needs assessment — how the class and modules this checklist audits get decided.
• First aid kits for construction sites — the weekly-check duty in its full site context.

Why trust WC Safety

WC Safety is an independent, affiliate-supported review site. It is not a retailer: it holds no inventory, takes no orders, and earns only from qualifying purchases through clearly marked links — which never changes what a product is rated to do. Standards language on this page is taken from the regulation text directly — 29 CFR 1910.151 and its non-mandatory Appendix A, 29 CFR 1926.50, and 29 CFR 1915.87 Appendix A were each read in full for this guide — and ANSI/ISEA Z308.1-2021 is characterized as what it is: a voluntary consensus standard OSHA cites as an example, not a rule it enforces. We run no laboratory and perform no testing of our own. Where published sources disagree — including on Z308.1 item-type counts, which published summaries state differently — we omit the disputed number rather than pick a side.

Our methodology

Researched and written by Steven Eaton, editor of WC Safety. Steven holds no safety certification and does not test products; this page reports what the regulations and the published standard say, with the gaps in that record marked. Last reviewed August 2026.