OSHA First Aid Kit Requirements

What does OSHA require in a workplace first aid kit?

Published May 14, 2026 · Last updated July 27, 2026

Short answer: Under 29 CFR 1910.151(b), every general industry employer must ensure adequate first aid supplies are "readily available" when no infirmary, clinic, or hospital is in near proximity to the workplace. ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 is the voluntary consensus standard OSHA cites as an example rather than a rule it enforces, and it defines two kit classes — Class A for common workplace injuries and Class B for higher-hazard or remote worksites — each with its own minimum contents list. The construction standard at 29 CFR 1926.50 is more specific about access than about contents: medical personnel available for advice and consultation, a first-aid-trained person on site where no infirmary, clinic or hospital is reasonably accessible, supplies easily accessible in weatherproof containers with individually sealed packages, and checks at least weekly and after each use. It sets no kit-quantity ratio — its non-mandatory Appendix A leaves additional kits and quantities to the size of the operation and its hazards.

OSHA First Aid Kit Requirements: 29 CFR 1910.151 and ANSI Z308.1 Explained (2026 Guide)

First aid kits are among the most commonly cited items on OSHA general industry inspections — not because the law is complex, but because employers frequently either stock kits that are out of date, use non-ANSI-compliant contents, or fail to place kits where workers can reach them in the critical first minutes after an injury. Untreated or improperly treated workplace injuries account for thousands of preventable days away from work and millions of dollars in workers' compensation costs annually.

OSHA's first aid requirement sits at 29 CFR 1910.151 for general industry and 29 CFR 1926.50 for construction. Both standards require employers to provide first aid supplies adequate to address the types of injuries reasonably expected at the site. ANSI/ISEA Z308.1-2021, the national consensus standard for first aid kits, specifies the minimum contents by class. OSHA has not adopted it as a mandatory standard — the non-mandatory Appendix A to 1910.151 names Z308.1 only as an example of the minimal contents of a generic first aid kit. Stocking to a class is how most employers show their supplies are adequate under 1910.151(b). The assessment that decides the class is covered in workplace first aid needs assessment. This guide is written for safety managers, plant managers, and construction site supervisors responsible for maintaining compliant first aid programs.

Why this matters.
OSHA 1910.151 is a performance standard — it says "adequate" but doesn't always define exactly what adequate means for your specific site. That ambiguity is a double-edged sword: it gives safety managers flexibility, but it also means an OSHA inspector can cite a kit as inadequate if the contents don't address foreseeable hazards at your site. Stocking an ANSI Z308.1-compliant Class B kit, supplemented for site-specific hazards (chemical burns, lacerations, eye injuries), is the most defensible compliance posture.

The OSHA First Aid Obligation: Three Requirements

The Three-Part Rule Under 1910.151(b)

The core OSHA general industry first aid requirement at 1910.151(b) actually contains three distinct obligations that work together:

1. Trained personnel. "A person or persons shall be adequately trained to render first aid" in the absence of a nearby medical facility. OSHA interprets this as requiring at least one person per shift — not just per facility — who holds current first aid and CPR certification. A single trained person on the day shift leaves the night shift out of compliance.
2. Adequate supplies. "Adequate first-aid supplies shall be readily available." Supplies must match the types of injuries reasonably foreseeable at the site. A chemical plant must stock burn treatment supplies; a sawmill must stock wound closure materials appropriate for laceration depth; a warehouse must address struck-by injuries.
3. Proximity to medical care. The entire 1910.151(b) requirement is conditioned on the absence of an "infirmary, clinic, or hospital in near proximity." OSHA interprets "near proximity" as 3–4 minutes response time in most cases. If a hospital is 3–4 minutes away, OSHA may grant some latitude on on-site supplies — but "near proximity" does not mean "30-minute ambulance transport."

Construction: 29 CFR 1926.50

Construction's first aid standard at 1926.50 mirrors 1910.151 but adds specificity, and its paragraph letters are worth getting right. 1926.50(c) requires that a person holding a valid first-aid certificate be available at the worksite when no infirmary, clinic, hospital, or physician is reasonably accessible in terms of time and distance. 1926.50(d)(1) requires that first aid supplies be easily accessible when required. 1926.50(d)(2) is the paragraph most programs miss: kit contents must sit in a weatherproof container with individual sealed packages for each type of item, and the employer must check the kit before it is sent out on each job and at least weekly on each job to ensure expended items are replaced. 1926.50(g) requires that where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body shall be provided. Note that 1926.50 does not name ANSI Z308.1 anywhere. The full site setup is worked through in first aid kits for construction sites. This is the regulatory basis for the eyewash station requirement on construction sites handling acids, caustics, or corrosive adhesives.

How close does first aid have to be? The near-proximity rule

Both first aid standards are written as conditionals, and the condition is distance to professional care. General industry — 1910.151(b): “In the absence of an infirmary, clinic, or hospital in near proximity to the workplace which is used for the treatment of all injured employees, a person or persons shall be adequately trained to render first aid. Adequate first aid supplies shall be readily available.” Construction — 1926.50(c): when no infirmary, clinic, hospital, or physician is “reasonably accessible in terms of time and distance to the worksite,” a person holding a valid first-aid training certificate must be available at the worksite.

Neither regulation prints a number of minutes — the minutes live in OSHA’s interpretation letters, which are enforcement guidance rather than regulatory text. OSHA emphasizes treatment within the first critical minutes after an injury, and its letters — most recently the January 16, 2007 interpretation — have long read “near proximity,” where serious life-threatening injuries are possible (stopped breathing, cardiac arrest, uncontrolled bleeding, amputation), as care available within roughly 3 to 4 minutes. Where such injuries are unlikely, as in a typical office, the same letters accept a longer response window. Your operation’s hazards, not a universal stopwatch, drive the answer.

Two program consequences follow. First, this doctrine decides staffing: if EMS or a clinic cannot reach your workers inside the critical minutes for your hazard level, someone on shift needs current first-aid training — and on a construction site the trained person with a valid certificate is the rule whenever professional care is not reasonably accessible. Second, it is not a kit-sizing formula: classes and quantities come from the hazard assessment and injury history, per the workplace first aid needs assessment, with class selection in ANSI Class A vs Class B first aid kits, upkeep in the first aid kit inspection checklist, and the construction specifics in first aid kits for construction sites. For a structured pass over your own site, run the first aid kit selector.

ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 Class A vs. Class B

"OSHA-approved" first aid kits: what the label can and cannot mean

Product listings routinely advertise "OSHA-approved" first aid kits. OSHA does not approve, certify, or endorse any product — there is no federal approval mark for a first aid kit the way NIOSH approves respirators. What the label usually signals is that the manufacturer stocked the kit to an ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 class, which is the accepted way to show the supplies are adequate under 1910.151(b). Treat "OSHA-approved" as marketing shorthand, verify the stated Z308.1 class and item counts instead, and let the site's own hazard assessment decide whether that class is enough.

Minimum Required Contents (ANSI Z308.1-2021)

How Many First Aid Kits Are Required

General Industry: "Adequate" and Readily Accessible

1910.151 does not set a numeric ratio of kits to employees. The standard requires supplies that are "readily available" — which OSHA interprets as accessible within the time it would take for an injured worker to reach them without assistance. The 3-to-4-minute figure that circulates in this context comes from OSHA’s interpretation letters on near proximity of medical care — the test for whether trained first-aid personnel are needed on site — not from any published rule about how far a worker may be from a kit. No codified kit-distance standard exists. What "readily available" turns on is whether an injured worker can actually reach supplies without assistance: a single kit in a far corner of a 500,000-square-foot warehouse is not readily available to workers throughout the building, and a written placement map keyed to your hazard assessment is what defends the count.

Construction: 1926.50 and the Per-Crew Standard

Construction's 1926.50 is more specific. First aid kits are required at each job site. For worksites with more than one work crew operating in dispersed locations, OSHA has read "easily accessible" in dispersed-crew situations to require that each crew be able to reach supplies, which in practice means kits at each work location rather than one kit serving a whole project. A general contractor with four trade crews working in separate areas of a building should have four accessible first aid kits (or a fixed kit location accessible to all within 3-4 minutes). Stocking each kit to Z308.1 Class A or B is the usual way to show the supplies are adequate, though 1926.50 itself does not name ANSI.

Rule of Thumb: 25 Employees or 300 Feet

While not codified in federal OSHA regulations, a widely accepted industry benchmark is one first aid kit per 25 employees or per 300 feet of separation between work areas, whichever requires more kits. It is a trade convention rather than a published requirement — neither OSHA nor ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 states it — so use it to start a floor plan, not to justify one. What defends a kit count in an inspection is the hazard assessment and demonstrable accessibility, not the ratio when no specific ratio is cited in the applicable federal standard.

Construction-Specific Requirements (1926.50)

Medical Personnel and Ambulance Access

1926.50(d)(1) requires that where the eyes or body of a person may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, eyewash facilities and emergency drenching equipment must be immediately accessible. 1926.50(a) requires that in the absence of a clinic or physician in near proximity, a person trained in first aid must be available. "Available" is interpreted to mean on-site, not on-call. 1926.50(b) requires that provision be made for prompt medical attention in case of serious injury, including ambulance or emergency transport access where the site is remote.

Corrosive Exposure: Eyewash Requirement

Any construction task involving corrosive chemicals — acid-based concrete etching products, epoxy resins, tile adhesives, or chemical grout — triggers the eyewash requirement under 1926.50(g). OSHA’s own wording requires "suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing" within the work area and sets no figures. The 15-minute flow and the 10-second travel-time limit are ANSI/ISEA Z358.1 provisions, which OSHA cites as guidance rather than incorporating by reference. In-kit eyewash solution (4-oz bottles) does not satisfy this requirement for corrosive chemical exposures — it satisfies the kit contents requirement but not the immediate-drench-access requirement.

Inspection Frequency and Refill Obligations

OSHA's Inspection Requirement

OSHA 1910.151 requires that first aid supplies be "adequate" at all times — which implies a maintenance obligation, not just an initial stocking requirement. OSHA compliance officers have cited employers for depleted or expired first aid kits even when the kit was initially compliant. For general industry OSHA sets no fixed inspection interval, and most safety programs adopt monthly inspections as the minimum cadence. Construction is different: 1926.50(d)(2) requires the employer to check each kit before it is sent out on each job and at least weekly on each job, which makes a documented weekly check the floor on a construction site.

What to Check During Inspection

During each inspection: (1) verify all minimum ANSI Z308.1 item types are present in required quantities; (2) check expiration dates on antiseptics, eye wash, burn gel, and other dated items; (3) confirm the kit is accessible (not locked, not buried under materials); (4) confirm the kit is clean and dry with no contaminated or damaged supplies; (5) restock any items used since the last inspection. Document the inspection date, inspector name, and items restocked in the safety program log. Our first aid kit inspection checklist turns this section into a printable pass/fail walkthrough with the eight-step procedure and record format.

Expiration Management

Adhesive bandages, antiseptic wipes, burn gels, and eyewash solutions all carry expiration dates. Expired items no longer deliver the performance the standard assumes, and an inspector can treat a kit full of expired supplies as inadequate under 1910.151(b) even when every item is present in the correct quantity. A simple system: write the inspection date on a card inside the kit lid, mark the earliest-expiring item's date on the same card, and set a calendar reminder to check before that date. The item-by-item failure chart lives in do first aid supplies expire. For the complete first aid kits and first aid kits we review, most manufacturers print a kit expiration date on the packaging that reflects the shortest-expiring item.

Special Hazard Additions

Chemical and Acid Burns: Beyond Kit Contents

Sites handling hydrofluoric acid, sulfuric acid, or other aggressive corrosives require supplemental first aid supplies not included in ANSI Z308.1 minimum contents — such as calcium gluconate gel for HF burns. These additions must be documented in the site's first aid program and matched to the specific chemicals in use per the SDS. Consult an occupational physician or Certified Industrial Hygienist to specify first aid treatment protocols for specialty chemical exposures before an incident occurs.

Bloodborne Pathogen Supplemental Kits

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1030 (Bloodborne Pathogens) requires that when employees may be occupationally exposed to blood or other potentially infectious materials, engineering controls and PPE must be available. First aid responders are "occupationally exposed" when rendering first aid. The first aid kit for trained responders should include biohazard-rated sharps containers, additional gloves, and a CPR barrier with one-way valve — these are typically not included in standard ANSI Z308.1 kits but should be added for designated first aid responders.

Worked Example: 75-Person Plastics Manufacturing Facility

To make the compliance workflow concrete, here is how to spec the first aid program for a plastics injection-molding facility with 75 employees across two shifts, chemical colorant handling, and two work buildings 400 feet apart:

1. Count employees and map the facility. 75 employees total; 40 on day shift, 35 on night shift. Two buildings separated by 400 feet — neither building can reach the other's first aid kit in under 3 minutes. Minimum: one kit per building.
2. Assess hazard profile. Chemical colorants include concentrated dyes with pH <2 — corrosive eye hazard. Injection mold presses create crush and burn injury risk. Class B kits required for both locations; eyewash station added at colorant mixing area per the 1910.151(c) eyewash provision and 1910.1030.
3. Select kit class. Class B from the complete first aid kits collection for both locations. Stock two kits per building (one per 25 employees on shift) from the first aid kits collection.
4. Mount kits in labeled, accessible cabinets. First aid cabinets mounted at eye height, labeled with red cross signage, unlocked during production hours. Location posted on the emergency action plan and safety bulletin board.
5. Train one first aid responder per shift per building. Four trained responders minimum (2 shifts × 2 buildings). Current Red Cross or ASHI first aid + CPR certification. Certifications tracked in the safety training log.
6. Set monthly inspection cadence. First aid coordinator inspects all four kits monthly. Inspection form records date, items restocked, expiration dates checked. Non-compliant items replaced same day. Documentation retained for 3 years.

The first aid and medical equipment collections cover every component needed to build a compliant program from scratch — from individual kit contents to wall-mount cabinets and eyewash supplies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Further Reading on This Site

• First aid kits for warehouses — how the duty applies on a warehouse floor.
• Bleeding control kit vs first aid kit — where bleeding control sits against the 1910.151 duty.
• First aid kits — ANSI Z308.1-compliant Class A and Class B kits for general industry and construction.
• Complete first aid kits — fully stocked Class B kits ready for high-hazard and multi-crew worksites.
• First aid cabinets — wall-mount cabinets for organizing and displaying first aid supplies in compliance with OSHA accessibility requirements.
• First aid — full first aid supply category including individual item refills and specialty additions.
• Medical equipment — AEDs, CPR barriers, splints, and other medical-grade workplace safety equipment.
• NIOSH vs. OSHA Explained — regulatory framework guide for understanding how OSHA standards are set and enforced.
• OSHA Hard Hat Requirements — companion reference for head protection requirements that apply alongside first aid programs on construction sites.
• OSHA standards index — the 4 ft versus 6 ft split, the payment rule, and every other place the two rulebooks diverge.

Related Safety Standards & Guides

• Best Half Face Respirator Guide
• Hard Hat Classes Explained
• Cut Resistance Glove Levels Explained
• N95 vs KN95 vs P100 — Which Respirator Do You Need?
• What Is NIOSH? Respirator Safety Standards Explained
• NIOSH vs. OSHA Breakdown
• N95 Respirators
• 3M Half Mask Respirators
• Hard Hats
• Safety Glasses
• Hearing Protection
• High Visibility Clothing
• Respirator Filters & Cartridges

Related reference

Related on this site: which first aid kit do you need? complete buyer's guide, workplace first aid kit inspection checklist: osha & ansi z308.1 (2026, first aid kits for construction sites: 1926.50 setup guide, ansi class a vs class b first aid kits: what's the difference?, ansi first aid kit types i, ii, iii & iv explained (2026 guide), and do first aid supplies expire? first aid kit expiration guide.

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Researched and written by Steven Eaton, editor of WC Safety. Steven holds no safety certification and does not test products; this page compares what manufacturers and regulators publish, with the gaps in that record marked. Last reviewed August 2026.