Hi Alan, As long as your first aiders are trained in the application and use of those extra pieces I don't believe it will make it any difference whether they are stored in the box or outside of it. I'm convinced it's not 'illegal'.

I'm disappointed but not surprised that many of the major suppliers (and organisations involved in developing the new standard) have seized on this as another cash cow! I'm dubious about some of the contents - take for example the large kit, with 4 triangular and 2 conforming bandages what the heck do you need 24 safety pins for! 100 plasters! - I appreciate this may vary greatly from site to site but we have 65 employees and 4 small kits with about 100 plasters total. Replenishment is a handful a month. Comments like "The new BSi first aid kits are now the only safe and clear way for an employer to meet their obligations..." are unhelpful and downright misleading. If you have done a suitable first aid assessment then you'll probably already have the necessary extra items. If you haven't yet done so you will probably find most will easily fit into you existing kits. The HSE has made it clear the new kits are not compulsory and stressed the assessment side. We have, hence have small kits for the day to day trivial items, we also hold extra items, including everything in the new standard in a larger 'response' kit, and have spares available for replenishment. I personally think increasing the contents (unless your risk assessment has identified a specific need) is more likely to increase pilfering than improve first aid. Think also about how many items have to be discarded unused because of 'expiry dates' - more items in the kit - more money for the suppliers. A bit of a rant - yes, but we were stung some years ago with the 'you need to change all your extinguishers to red ones' debacle because we had an inexperienced safety officer who took the advice of the Company supplying / servicing our extinguishers without checking the regulations etc. It's about time these organisations were called to account for misleading sales pitches.

Let’s not forget BS Standards are not the law; granted they can (but not always) assist in complying with best or good practice. As safetysmurf stated as long as you provide the kit recommended by the HSE and have the appropriate number of suitably trained first aiders (http://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/index.htm) then you have nothing to worry about. With regards to scaremongering or at least hard selling by suppliers then this is not uncommon, I personally remember getting a letter that tried to look very official and legal from one large safety sign supplier telling us that we had to replace our H&S Posters, they omitted however to mention the transition period up until the 5th of April 2014, or that you can provide each employee with a simple leaflet (freely available from the HSE website (http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/lawposter.htm) that provides the same information. Caveat emptor springs to mind. smitch