First Aid in the Workplace: What Indian Law Requires
Most Indian workplaces are legally required to maintain first-aid boxes and trained personnel. Yet compliance remains patchy. Here is what the law says and what good practice looks like.
Under the Factories Act 1948 and the OSH Code 2020, every workplace above defined thresholds must provide first-aid boxes proportional to the number of workers, with trained first-aiders available on every shift.
Legal minimums
Section 45 of the Factories Act mandates one first-aid box per 150 workers, kept in the charge of a person trained in first aid. For factories with more than 500 workers, an ambulance room with prescribed equipment and a qualified medical practitioner or nurse is required.
What a compliant first-aid box contains
Sterile dressings of assorted sizes, adhesive bandages, antiseptic solution, scissors, triangular bandages, eye-wash bottle, disposable gloves, CPR face shield, burn dressing, and a first-aid manual in the local language.
Beyond the box
A modern first-aid programme includes AEDs in offices above 200 staff, quarterly drills on choking and bleeding control, and a documented escalation chain to the nearest hospital with response-time targets.