The notion of having blue first aid boxes is a new one for me. Indeed it seems to be contrary to the HSE's guidance which suggests the need for green ones. I am being told that blue first aid boxes must now be used in kitchen areas, (I have asked for clarification). Does anyone know of such a requirement? The premises where this has become an issue is in Wales which leads me to ask whether or not this is a specific Welsh regulatory requirement - do any Welsh safety practitioners know if there is such a requirement? Thanks in advance.

I think there is a new British Standard that applies to catering as I have recentluy noticed them included in the ARCO catalogue, but not sure of compliance timescales?

Blue is used in catering, rather than green because there are not many natural coloured blue foods. Hence the blue plasters, hairnets, gloves, etc - so you can see it in a salad, meat, etc
I therefore imagine that the blue first aid box is an extension of this (Food Hygiene and Food Safety Legislation - talk to your local Environmental Health Officer at the Council). At some very large catering facilities not only is blue used (plasters, hairnets, gloves, etc) but any plastic or glass which is not blue in colour has to be audited regularly for damage, so that you know if some glass has dropped in some food, or plastic etc.
You sometimes see the consequneces of this at supermarkets etc when at the enterance they have announced a product recall for a batch of serial numbers on food due to the chance of broken glass fragments etc.

Hi, yes I've noticed a lot of these appearing in catering and food manufacturing sites. The first one I saw was in a popcorn factory. BS5899-1 was the British standard for first aid kits introduced in 2011. It seems the blue catering kits sprung up since then, although I'm not aware that the colour of the kit is specified in the standard - and even if it is, the BS is not law. As pointed out above, its a visual indicator that the contents will be blue. Personally I wouldn't remove in date green kits for blue ones, but as and when they need replacing, then blue kits in a kitchen would make sense.
All the best, Jon

Hi, yes I've noticed a lot of these appearing in catering and food manufacturing sites. The first one I saw was in a popcorn factory. BS5899-1 was the British standard for first aid kits introduced in 2011. It seems the blue catering kits sprung up since then, although I'm not aware that the colour of the kit is specified in the standard - and even if it is, the BS is not law. As pointed out above, its a visual indicator that the contents will be blue. Personally I wouldn't remove in date green kits for blue ones, but as and when they need replacing, then blue kits in a kitchen would make sense.
All the best, Jon

The relevant British Standard for first aid kits is BS 8599-1 (not as stated above).

It specifies the colour of the cross symbol and the lettering, but not the background!

BS EN 7010 specifies the symbols and the colours, and shows a first aid sign as a white cross on a green background.