First aid kit contents check

Check every first aid kit against your needs-assessment list, restock anything used or missing, and replace anything past its expiry date.

A first aid kit nobody has checked since the fit-out is a kit missing exactly the item someone reaches for in an emergency — most contents have shelf lives and get quietly used up between incidents.

Watch out for

• Buying a generic kit once and never checking it against what your actual needs assessment says you should hold.
• Missing expiry dates on individual items — a full-looking kit can still have out-of-date contents.
• Only one kit for a multi-floor or multi-area venue, so the check gets missed for the one nobody walks past daily.

Sources

• HSE — First aid at work: legislation checked 2026-09-02

See also

• Start the logbook on day one— this becomes part of getting open →