First Aid Kit Contents Checklist: What Must Legally Be in Your Kit

First Aid Kit Contents Checklist: What Must Legally Be in Your Kit

Almost every Australian workplace has a first aid kit somewhere, but very few business owners have actually checked what is supposed to be inside it. Some assume any kit from the chemist will do. Others assume there is a single official list every kit must match exactly. Neither is quite right. This guide breaks down what Safe Work Australia actually expects, what changes depending on your level of risk, and the items that get overlooked most often.

---

There Is No Single Mandated List

This surprises a lot of people. The model Work Health and Safety Regulations do not specify one fixed list of items that every kit in Australia must contain. Instead, Safe Work Australia's First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice takes a risk based approach, where the contents of your kit should reflect the specific hazards of your workplace.

What the Code of Practice does provide is a recommended baseline, essentially a starting point that covers the injuries common to most low risk workplaces, with clear guidance on what to add as risk increases. Understanding that baseline, and where your workplace sits above it, is the actual compliance question most businesses need answered.

---

The Baseline Contents Every Kit Should Have

For a low risk workplace, Safe Work Australia's Code of Practice sets out an indicative minimum kit that should include:

• A range of adhesive dressing strips in assorted sizes
• Non adherent wound dressings in a range of sizes for larger wounds
• Saline solution for wound cleaning and eye irrigation
• Conforming bandages for securing dressings
• Crepe bandages for sprains and soft tissue support
• A combine dressing pad for heavier bleeding
• Safety pins for securing bandages and slings
• Splinter probes and forceps
• Disposable nitrile gloves
• A resuscitation face shield or CPR mask
• Scissors
• A thermal or space blanket for treating shock
• Triangular bandages for slings and immobilisation
• Eye pads
• A basic first aid instruction leaflet or guide
• A notepad and pencil for recording incident details
• A sharps disposal container where relevant to the workplace
• Disposable bags for contaminated waste

This baseline is designed for an office, retail store, or other genuinely low risk environment. For trade and construction work, it is the starting point rather than the finished list.

---

What Changes for High Risk Workplaces

Construction, mining, manufacturing, and most trade work fall into the high risk category under the Code of Practice, which means the baseline list above needs meaningful additions. For a high risk workplace, expect to add:

• Burn dressings or hydrogel sachets: for contact and chemical burns, common on sites with hot surfaces, tools, or caustic materials
• A larger volume of saline eyewash: for dust, debris, and chemical exposure to the eyes, which occurs far more often on trade sites than in an office
• Additional and larger wound dressings: to manage more serious lacerations from tools, blades, and machinery
• Extra pairs of gloves: since high risk sites involve more frequent wound treatment throughout a shift
• A snake bite bandage: for any outdoor, rural, or bushland adjacent work

The number of workers covered by a single kit also changes with risk level. Safe Work Australia's general guidance is one kit per 25 workers in a low risk environment, dropping to one kit per 10 workers where the work is high risk.

---

Items That Get Missed Most Often

Even businesses that have made a genuine effort to stock their kit properly tend to miss a handful of items that matter in practice. The most common gaps we see are saline eyewash in a large enough volume to actually flush an eye properly, a thermal blanket for managing shock, a CPR mask rather than assuming mouth to mouth without protection, and enough non adherent dressings to handle more than one incident before needing to restock. A kit that looks complete at a glance can still fall short once you check quantities against what a genuine high risk workplace actually needs.

---

Contents Requirements Can Vary Slightly by State

While the model WHS framework is consistent nationally, some jurisdictions add their own guidance or emphasis on top of the Code of Practice. If you operate across state lines, or want the specific detail for where you are based, our first aid requirements guide by state covers what applies in each jurisdiction.

---

Checking and Restocking Your Kit

Having the right contents on day one is only half the job. Dressings expire, saline runs low, and gloves get used up faster than most people expect. Our guide on when to restock your first aid kit covers how often to check your kit and what typically needs replacing first.

---

What Comes in a Trade Aid Kit

Rather than assembling a kit item by item and hoping it meets the Code of Practice, the Trade Aid Compact Kit and Classic Kit are both built directly around Safe Work Australia's high risk workplace guidance. Every item on the list above, plus the trade specific additions like burn gel, saline eyewash, and a snake bite bandage, is already included and correctly sized for real worksite use. The Compact Kit suits sole traders and small crews, while the Classic Kit covers larger teams and higher risk sites with additional wound care and trauma supplies.

---

The Practical Takeaway

There is no single official checklist that applies to every Australian workplace, but there is a clear baseline and a clear set of additions once your work moves into high risk territory. If you run a trade or construction business, check your current kit against the high risk list above rather than the basic office version, and pay particular attention to eyewash, burn care, and dressing quantities, since these are the areas most kits fall short.

---

Tax Deductible

First aid kits are one hundred percent tax deductible as a workplace safety expense for Australian businesses. Keep your receipt and claim it at tax time.

Shop the Compact Kit ($85) → | Shop the Classic Kit ($169) → | Bulk Buy Discounts →