I've now had time to check the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. There is no requirement for the person supplying a general sale list medication (paracetemol/ibuprofen) to charge money for it. The requirements are you cannot maufacturer the product yourself, you must have control of the premises you are supplying in (ie. Mabel doesn't but employer does!), you must be able to exclude the general public, it must be supplied in the original packaging. The only slightly odd curiosity is you must supply full, unopened, packets - ie. your employer can give you 16 tablets but should not just give you 2 (or at least if you only take 2 he shouldn't then allow anyone else to use the other 14)!
If you really want TJ's head to explode - here's a genuine scenario I found myself in a few years ago:
You are running a residential training weekend for young people (12-15) - think Scouts (although it wasn't actually the scouts). You are one of the designated first aiders having been trained to do so; the training only covered the administration of aspirin for suspected heart attack. At about 23:45 one of the young people complains of feeling unwell and having a severe headache. There are no signs of injury and nothing to suggest anything other than minor ailness. Its a 3 hr trip "home" so its not realistic to get parents to collect or to take them back. The first aid kit of course has no drugs in it. What do you do? There is a 24h petrol station within sight of the hotel you are staying in... I'll tell you what I did later... but when we debriefed the weekend later multiple suggestions were proposed:
- go to A&E/MIU
- call NHS24 and ask for out of hrs doctor
- go to the petrol station and get some tablets
- allow a small group including the young person themselves to go to the petrol station to get tablets
- call an emergency helpline the organisation runs for volunteers who have a crisis during a training weekend*
- its "just" a headache, it won't kill them and they'll have to endure it
(* the helpline is manned by a senior manager who probably has no first aid qualification and has never run a residential training weekend - they deal with out of hours calls from the press in the event of an incident etc!)
Was there a decision on the cheese knife? Maybe there needs to be a toaster or, better yet, a George Foreman grill in there as well. You know, for toasties.
Mind you, you'll need those painkillers when someone burns their mouth on the melted cheese.
And Worchestershire Sauce.
Thanks, Poly.
Just to further annoy people:
UK HSE rules explicitly recommend that a workplace first aid box shouldn't contain any medications except aspirin (to be use to treat a heart attack rather than pain relief).
For that reason, no sensible company director/office manager etc is going to have the company providing medications to staff. I appreciate that people here (except me) see a benefit of this - but all they are going to see is a potential lawsuit, and put the kibosh on it.
*checks if kibosh is unintentionally racist.... it's not*
Well I’ve learnt something interesting from this thread so thanks to those who have patiently explained it! I had also assumed that leaving everyday medical stuff in a box would be fine as people take responsibility for taking it themselves. But I can see the argument that the employer is held to a different, higher, standard in what they make available vs what I could personally offer to a friend or acquaintance.
@batfink correct not in the first aid box but can be stored elsewhere.
Medicines is a bizarre thing. My place of work had to apply for a new licence because they were changing how some drugs or stored. Wasn’t a huge change and made them even more secure, but still needed a new licence.
Poly.
Im not trained in that sort of scenario. Id have gone for nhs24 i think. In Scotland you get to speak to a registered nurse or doctor which helps. Pass the buck?
Butvas i say thats beyond my training and knowledge
UK HSE rules explicitly recommend that a workplace first aid box shouldn’t contain any medications except aspirin (to be use to treat a heart attack rather than pain relief).
A thought - who is a first aid box for? I've always assumed it is for a trained first aider to access the 'gear' to administer first aid. I.e. use their (modest) training to assess and treat. In reality in a lot of organisations it's accessible so if you cut yourself you'll rummage in it for a plaster and self administer.
OTC pain relief accessible (in whole boxes if that ticks the box) to be bought/given at no cost to an employee specifically for their own use at their personal use supplied from an entirely separate location to the first aid box is not the same thing I don't think. What I think is irrelevant mind and I'm not convinced anyone here really knows for sure.
Any parents here have teens that have gone away on multi day trips? Pretty usual for staff in those situations to be given OTC pain meds for things like period pain, significant headaches etc. How do you feel about that? Do you trust their judgement?
A thought – who is a first aid box for? I’ve always assumed it is for a trained first aider to access the ‘gear’ to administer first aid.
Yes. IDK other places but we don't have an accessible FAK, we have multiple FAs with their own FAKs and a "Code 10, Module 6" type tannoy call.
Ergo, if FAs can't / shouldn't give painkillers (aspirin exception, etc) and only FAs have access to the FAK then no need or justification to have painkillers in FAKs.
But that's not the same as a wellness box, which specifically ISN'T a FAK and isn't only for use by FAs
FWIW, because FAs were regularly being asked for a plaster for a paper cut or a blister from new shoes or whatever (ie not really FA stuff) we do have plaster dispensers freely accessible. Cleverly as you take the plaster out of the reel it peels off the first half of the backing, so unless you go right to the extreme of storing up loads of backing pieces, you can't just nick a load.
