| The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Approved
Code of Practice and guidance on the Health and Safety (First-aid)
Regulations 1981 states that the provision of first-aid at work
does not include giving tablets or medicines to treat illnesses.
The Guidance also states that tablets and medicines should not
be kept in workplace first-aid containers.
However, there is no legislation preventing employers making over-the-counter
medicines, such as paracetamol for the treatment of headaches,
available to staff by, for example, placing them in the care of
a responsible person or making them available in vending machines.
For its part the HSE says that it has no objections to paracetamol
being made available in the workplace in vending machines. However,
it recommends that, if first aiders are responsible for issuing
these tablets, they should have a reasonable understanding of
what is involved, while employers should bear in mind that there
is a potential for litigation against them if first aiders are
asked to administer medications, even if trained to do so.
Under medicines legislation, medicines such as paracetamol can
be sold or supplied from vending machines at work. However, the
product must be pre-packed and the machines should be situated
in premises which the occupier can lock to prevent members of
the public gaining access to them.
Medicines sold or supplied from a vending machine must also comply
with any legal restrictions on pack sizes. In the case of paracetamol,
products containing this substance (up to a maximum strength of
500 milligrams), must be presented for sale in a package or container
which does not exceed 16 tablets.
In addition, the law covering the sale of medicines means that
the sale or supply of more than 100 tablets at any one time is
restricted to prescription control by a doctor. Therefore, employers
who provide vending machines for the sale of paracetamol must
ensure that an individual cannot pay for and obtain more than
100 tablets in a single transaction.
Further information on the installation of vending machines for
medicines at work can be found on the Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency’s website at: www.mhra.gov.uk.
Reference:
Safety Management; February 2004; p52
For further information contact the British Safety Council |
