Posted By Malcolm Hogarth I have had a couple of queries recently about the provision of plasters in first aid boxes. As far as I am aware from the First Aid Regulations the basic provision is for 20 assorted sterile dressings (Blue/detectable for catering - food manufacturing) I have been asked if I know anything about plasters being banned because of allergies as "I read somewhere that plasters are not allowed" It is interesting to note that the parties cannot now recall where they read this! My stance on allergies is that it is highly unlikely that somebody would suffer an extreme allergic reaction without first having had a previous minor reaction. In addition we require staff to inform us if they know of any allergies so that we can implement appropriate controls. Any thoughts, comments? Malcolm

Posted By Doug OShea Malcolm I have heard this before from staff when checking first aid boxes - but nobody seems to recall where or who they heard it from. So I checked it out with a HSE approved first aid trainer who told me that it is advisable to stock both plasters and a roll micropore. When carrying out any first aid involving a plaster to ask if they are allergic to plasters. If they are you use the micropore if not the plaster. Hope this helps

Posted By Richard Mathews I used to be allergic to the old style plasters, the reaction was just a mild inflammation and itching which went off soon after removing the plaster. The modern type of plasters don’t cause me any problems though and we include them in our first aid boxes. As others have said first aiders should ask people if they have any allergies before giving any treatment. Having said al that I do know that one of our local colleges has banned them from their first aid boxes for that reason. Richard

Posted By Malcolm Hogarth Thanks for the replies so far. I still havn't got the answer though - are plasters banned or do the First Aid Regs still apply and the box should have 20 plasters?

Posted By John Beadle Further to my previous response I can quote a reply I have received from the Red Cross "Plasters or adhesive dressings should be stocked in a workplace first aid kit. The British Red Cross includes plasters in all its kits and are actually identified as part of the minimum contents of a workplace first aid kit by the Health & Safety Executive." Hope this helps John

Posted By Nina you can have scissors in your first aid box providing they are round ended, the rule with plasters is that yes you can have them, but you must ask the person if they are allergic to them, you can keep the hypo ones which of course wont course any problems, but this is difficult where blue plasters are required. Hope that helps

Posted By J Knight AIB has a good point, as do other posters on this forum. Plasters are absoultely not banned; not many things are nowadays. This is because we are supposed to work on a goal-stting risk based approach (yes, I know you know that). But my point is, many people hate that. They hate ambiguity, and see somthing called 'grey areas' everywhere (there's a term I would ban); what the lay person calls a 'grey area' is our latitude for decision making. So we say 'risk assess for first aid and ask people if they are sensitive to plasters (or even better, stock hypoallergenic plasters) before sticking anything on them' and the lay-manager says 'oh, it's a grey area, we could get sued, better ban it'. Don't know what the answer is, and this forum has heard this rant many tinmes before, from many people. But back to specifics, just did my St J refresher, and we weren't told we shouldn't use plasters; HSE guidance says there should be adhesive dressings (plasters). Scissors are required in minibus first aid kits (DETR guidance applies not HSE), and the world is full of grey areas, but I think that's on account of the South Yorkshire drizzle I can see from my windos, John

Posted By J Knight Quite agree Mark, though with minibuses its seatbelts not jeans (you can carry a seatbelt cutter if you're absolutely averse to scissors) John