Is it a legal requirement to carry a first aid kit in a hgv cab? If so where is the information on it?
Many Thanks
What kind of goods are you carrying?
Speaking from experience trucks.
should come with a basic first aid kit.
As years ago delivered to a small unit and somehow I managed to cut my finger had blood coming out the cut.
Asked for a plaster and what a nightmare it was trying get my cut cleaned and a plaster. Had fill in accident book then had get a first aider good job wasn’t nothing serious.
Told place where I worked and next day granted only small company we wass all given a first aid kit from Halfords full of plasters antiseptic wipes etc
It’s food
jusholmes:
Is it a legal requirement to carry a first aid kit in a hgv cab? If so where is the information on it?Many Thanks
No…
It’s not a legal requirement. It’s a good idea to have one more but, (and I’m guilty of this too despite falling asleep through 3 dcpc sessions covering first aid) most peeps would be more dangerous to a road collision victim than a help.
As above, no, not a legal requirement, only required for ADR work, in which event it usually needs to include 2 x 500ml eye wash. Some ADR work requires other more specialised items, such as cream containing calcium gluconate for when you’re working with hydroflouric acid.
edd1974:
Speaking from experience trucks.
should come with a basic first aid kit.
As years ago delivered to a small unit and somehow I managed to cut my finger had blood coming out the cut.
Asked for a plaster and what a nightmare it was trying get my cut cleaned and a plaster. Had fill in accident book then had get a first aider good job wasn’t nothing serious.
Told place where I worked and next day granted only small company we wass all given a first aid kit from Halfords full of plasters antiseptic wipes etc
DHL Hatfield…
Unloading there on nights some years ago. I managed to get clipped by the post as it unexpectedly sprang out. It just caught me above my left eye. As any boxer will tell you, your eyebrows are really good at leaking the red stuff. The forky looked at me and looked shocked. Off I go to security who tell me to sit down and they’ll get a first aider to attend. After I’d finished bleeding all over the accident book, the first aider attended because he’d finished his break. He took me to the first aid room where he then declared he had no iodine, wasn’t authorised to give me paracetamol and wasn’t allowed scissors to cut a bandage for me.
I declined an ambulance, found the men’s bogs, stuck my head into a bowl of cold water and drove back to Leeds with some bog roll taped around my head.
Mate of mine drove back from Portugal with two broken ribs.
I used to find the first aid kits useless.
I made up my own with a selection of sticky plasters, scissors, nail clippers,
tweezers, headache pills, germolene etc.
Much more practical for the usual cuts, grazes, bumps and inconveniences
I normally encountered during my travels.
Thanks for the information everyone
jusholmes:
Is it a legal requirement to carry a first aid kit in a hgv cab? If so where is the information on it?Many Thanks
not sure but yes i would like this First Aid Kit
Is a first aid kit required for ADR work■■?
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Boris1971:
Is a first aid kit required for ADR work■■?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No, only eyewash and calcium gel…
Zac_A:
As above, no, not a legal requirement, only required for ADR work, in which event it usually needs to include 2 x 500ml eye wash. Some ADR work requires other more specialised items, such as cream containing calcium gluconate for when you’re working with hydroflouric acid.
This is why I asked
peirre:
What kind of goods are you carrying?
As I knew ADR regs carries some requirements to carry a 1st aid kit
First aid kits are useless unless you have some idea how to use them.
I reckon everyone should have some basic First aid knowledge. Preferably taught in schools, but it’s never too late to learn.
I’d recommend anyone on here jump at the chance if offered one. It’s not just for work. Knowing how to carry out basic life support along with howto use an AED could save someone’s life. It might be one of your loved ones. Wouldn’t you want someone else to know in case it’s you who’s the casualty?
axletramp:
I used to find the first aid kits useless.
I made up my own with a selection of sticky plasters, scissors, nail clippers,
tweezers, headache pills, germolene etc.
Much more practical for the usual cuts, grazes, bumps and inconveniences
I normally encountered during my travels.
Think twice before you administer any kind of medication (pills, creams etc) to anyone other than yourself. You don’t know about the other person’s allergies, or if there’s any existing medication to interact with.
WhiteTruckMan:
along with howto use an AED
I thought they were supposed to be so simple, just follow the instructions that you didn’t need any practice before you have to use one in anger. Is that not right?
stu675:
WhiteTruckMan:
along with howto use an AEDI thought they were supposed to be so simple, just follow the instructions that you didn’t need any practice before you have to use one in anger. Is that not right?
On the whole, yes. The main factor is speed of use though. Roughly speaking chance of survival decreases by 10% for every minute delay. You can improve this somewhat by starting what used to be called cpr. This is the whole chest compressions bit. The heart needs to work in a synchronised rhythm to pump, and its timed my electrical impulses. When it gets out of synch not only does it not pump oxygenated blood to the body, it doesn’t supply the same blood to itself, so after a very few minutes the heart muscles start to die. That’s why speed is essential for getting an aed in use. Chest compressions buy you time only as although they will pump the heart they won’t restart it.
But an aed will actually instruct you what to do with a pre recorded voice, and tell you when to administer a shock by pressing a button. It won’t do that unless it detected abnormal heart activity. And it won’t make the button live unless it needs to so you can’t shock accidentally.
I’d like to say they’re pretty much idiot proof, but whenever I’ve said that in the past about anything along comes a better class of idiot!
There are subtleties to their use too. Pads are stick on, but don’t work too well if the person is wet or hairy. So skin should be dry and smooth. I’m not sure if public defibs include a small rag to dry with and a disposable razor.
If it should work, then keep it attached until ambulance arrives, as the heart may pack up again. And even when they do arrive leave the pads on, as they are a common fitting so the crew may decide to just plug their own more sophisticated equipment into your pads.
Apologies if this went on too long, but I hope someone learns from it.
Excellent response ^^^^ I’ve always been quite passionate about first aid which probably stems from my military days where we were trained to a particularly high standard. As lorry drivers the law of averages tells us that at some point we’ll be the first on the scene of a traffic accident. Imagine the feeling of accomplishment you’d get if you actually saved a persons life!
When my children were born I badgered my (then) wife to do a first aid course. She was a bit reticent so I said to her “I work away, I’ll not always be there, how would you feel if you watched one of our children die because you didn’t know what to do when a simple first aid course could change that?”
She did the course and thanked me profusely.
A first aid kit isn’t required in a commercial vehicle for normal UK work, However… a wise boss who does an honest risk assessment would probably identify a vehicle driver as a ‘lone worker’ and choose to equip that worker with a basic first-aid kit and maybe some training as a matter of best practice.
For international work, a number of countries require a first aid kit to be carried on board a commercial vehicle as well as even in normal cars. The situation varies from country to country.
For ADR (dangerous goods by road) work, there’s nothing written in the ADR books about a first aid kit.
(I’d normally provide an ADR reference at this point, but I can’t provide a reference for a requirement that doesn’t exist. 
)
ADR does specify that eyewash must be carried when carrying a fully regulated load although no sizes/amounts are specified.
Dave’s ADR Trivia…
ADR does not require eyewash to be carried (even for a regulated load) if the dangerous goods being carried are in UN Class 1 (explosives) or in UN Class 2 (Gases.) [ADR 5.4.3 and 8.1.5.1 - 2]
Some dangerous goods do indeed have product-specific first aid requirements as mentioned by some posters, but that is a requirement of other legislation, not of ADR itself.
WhiteTruckMan:
I reckon everyone should have some basic First aid knowledge. Preferably taught in schools, but it’s never too late to learn.
If you search about you can find places that have a proper first aid course that has been approved for DCPC, so there’s one 7 hour block that most people should find more engaging.
WhiteTruckMan:
Think twice before you administer any kind of medication (pills, creams etc) to anyone other than yourself. You don’t know about the other person’s allergies, or if there’s any existing medication to interact with.
The only time a first-aider can give any kind of medication is for a heart attack casualty, ask them if they’re allergic to aspirin, and if they’re not, you give one 300mg tablet which should be chewed not swallowed - this helps thin the blood