First aid requirements (workplace)

First aid requirements are the regulated minimums for first aid at a workplace. A buyer may meet them while walking the premises, or when reading incident logs and inspection records during employment due diligence. A gap found there is a matter to raise with the seller, not a conclusion about the deal.

What three provinces say

• Ontario: Regulation 1101 under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 requires a first aid station with a first aid box holding the items the regulation lists, in the charge of a qualified worker; the largest workplaces must provide a first aid room (section 11). What an employer must provide depends on the number of workers in any one shift. The employer must also keep a record of each accident and first aid treatment.
• Alberta: section 178 of the Occupational Health and Safety Code requires a prime contractor or, if there is none, an employer to provide first aiders, supplies, equipment, kits and a first aid room for workers in accordance with the applicable requirements of Schedule 2, Tables 4 to 7. Subsection (4) lets employers sharing a work site with no prime contractor agree in writing to provide these collectively.
• British Columbia: section 3.16 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation requires an employer to provide for each workplace at least what Schedule 3-A requires, plus any additional equipment, supplies, facilities, attendants and services necessary so that injured workers can be promptly provided first aid and promptly transported to medical treatment.

What to ask

Ask for the written first aid assessment where the province calls for one, the records of trained staff and the inspection records for first aid boxes. This entry covers Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia only; check the rules where you are.