New ANSI First Aid Guidelines Knock Thousands of Companies out of Compliance

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Jun 14, 2016, 08:50 ET

SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of companies have purchased ANSI compliant first aid kits and cabinets since the American National Standards Institute last changed their Minimum Requirements for Workplace First Aid Kits and Supplies in 2009. ANSI just made sweeping changes to these standards causing these previously "ANSI compliant" first aid kits to now fail compliance. The new 2015 ANSI Standard Z308.1-2015, which becomes effective this Friday, June 17^th, adds significant new content changes for the minimum business first aid supplies.

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Since OSHA regulations for workplace first aid kits (29 CFR 1910.151, Appendix A) reference ANSI as the originator of first aid kit minimum contents requirements, OSHA compliant first aid kits will no longer be "OSHA compliant", either. Further, of the 28 US States with their own State Plans, these plans have either adopt ANSI Standard as their outright guideline, or refer to it as the basis for the "minimum fill" requirements for compliance.

What has changed?

There are 12 new types of first aid items and significantly higher counts of previously ANSI standard first aid supplies required in these new ANSI workplace first aid kits that were never before required. This adds up to 22 additional pieces in the basic ANSI Class A workplace first aid kit, and a whopping 145 extra pieces in the ANSI Class B Kits and Cabinets.

First-Aid-Product.com, the leading online seller of OSHA and ANSI First Aid Kits since 1993 has added over 100 new ANSI Standard first aid kits and cabinets, including refill and upgrade packs to help businesses comply with the new requirements economically. "Our customers purchase our kits specifically to assure their regulatory compliance," explains First-Aid-Product.com's Chad Balash, "knowing so many would want to replace their kits or upgrade, our Team scrambled to design easy ANSI upgrade packs and whole kit replacement content packs." While many organizations will purchase new kits altogether, this group felt it was important to offer a more affordable solution. "We offer every conceivable configuration of new ANSI first aid kit and cabinet with options from 10-200+ people served, Plastic or metal, Class A or B, Types I-IV, even Bilingual kits, Construction, Restaurant, and Vehicle in several colors, wall mountable, weatherproof and even soft bag ANSI Kits," notes Balash, "but the average small business may not want to pay for a whole new kit, and businesses with wall mounted cabinets may not want to remove their existing cabinet – so we made easy packs available that our clientele can just insert in existing first aid boxes"

According to OSHA First Aid Expert, Matthew Henry, "The ANSI Standard is the bare minimum any business should have in their workplace first aid kit." Mr. Henry, author of the Occupational Health & Safety's oft-cited The Do's & Don'ts of First Aid Compliance, explains "While specific industries such as welding, construction and logging have their own regulatory requirements, all safety regulations, from Fed OSHA to each OSHA-approved State plan refer to the ANSI Z308.1 standard requirements for compliance. If it were my business or a client I was advising; I would certainly opt for a $19 upgrade pack over risking thousands of dollars in fines."

If in doubt about your First Aid compliance needs, err on the side of caution: upgrade to the new ANSI 2015 First Aid Kit requirements by Friday, so if an Inspector walks in, you can show them you have the newly required first aid supplies on order.

About First-Aid-Product.com
For a quarter century, First-Aid-Product.com gave been saving lives and saving money with Wholesale Direct to the Public™ First Aid, CPR, Survival and Safety products online. As the Master Distributor for 100's of top first aid brands, and manufacturer of their own product line, First-Aid-Product.com stocks over 300,000 products and enables businesses to exceed their compliance requirements below budget and with same day shipping of the highest quality safety supplies in the industry.

http://www.First-Aid-Product.com

Contact:

Fred Andrews, Media Relations
Express Companies, Inc.
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SOURCE First-Aid-Product.com