A pure office also needs a working first-aid organisation: trained first aiders, reachable first-aid supplies, a notice showing the reporting chain, and documentation of every instance of help given. This is set out in sections 24 to 28 of DGUV Regulation 1. Up to 20 people present at the same time one first aider is enough; above that, administrative businesses need at least 5 percent.
How many first aiders are required
The number depends on the insured persons present at the same time, not on the payroll list:
| Employees present at the same time | Administrative and retail businesses | Other businesses |
|---|---|---|
| up to 20 | at least 1 person | at least 1 person |
| more than 20 | at least 5 percent of those present | at least 10 percent of those present |
The difference between workforce and attendance is where the calculation tips over in practice. A business with 60 employees, of whom 40 are present on a typical day, needs two first aiders on paper. If one of them is on leave and the other is working from home, the business has none. A buffer is therefore normal and sensible: anyone hitting the minimum exactly falls below it every other day.
The first-aider calculator takes the absence share into account and gives the figure for your business.
Training, refreshers and cost
First aiders are trained on a course at a provider authorised by the employers' liability insurance association. The refresher normally takes place every two years. If that deadline is substantially exceeded, the full course is required again rather than the shorter refresher. That is the most common avoidable extra cost in office businesses.
The cost of the course and refresher for workplace first aiders is generally covered by the responsible insurance association. The business bears the working time. The attendance certificates belong in the occupational safety documentation, and the expiry dates belong in the same overview as the other deadlines, otherwise they get overlooked.
Worth considering when selecting people: those who are regularly present, spread across floors and areas, and not exclusively from one team. Training all your first aiders in the same department leaves nobody in the building during a team offsite.
First-aid supplies
Under ASR A4.3 the requirement depends on the type of business and headcount.
| Number of employees | Required first-aid kit |
|---|---|
| up to 50 employees | small kit under DIN 13157 |
| more than 50 employees | large kit under DIN 13169 |
That norm is the legal minimum, not the practical recommendation: for quick access at least one kit per floor or building section makes sense. The first-aid kit calculator gives an estimate.
Three points are regularly overlooked:
- Expiry. Sterile materials have a use-by date. A complete kit with expired contents does not count as present.
- Accessibility. The kit belongs somewhere reachable without a key. A locked storeroom does not serve the purpose.
- Restocking. After every use it must be replenished. Without a named responsible person, experience shows that does not happen.
The notice and the reporting chain
The first-aid notice must be displayed clearly visibly and carry the information that matters in an emergency: the emergency number, the names and contact details of the first aiders, the location of the first-aid supplies and, where present, the defibrillator, plus the site address for the emergency services.
That last point looks trivial and matters enormously in an emergency: someone making an emergency call under pressure should not have to assemble the full address and floor from memory. You can produce a suitable notice in a few minutes with the first-aid notice generator.
The notice must be kept current. It should be reviewed after every change among the first aiders and after every relocation. A fixed place beside the first-aid supplies works well, with a second one in the kitchen or at reception, in other words where people are anyway.
Who does what in an emergency
A first-aid organisation that exists on paper but cannot be called on in an emergency helps nobody. The sequence therefore belongs in the annual safety training, specifically for your building:
- Make safe and speak to the person. Your own safety first, then check whether the person is responsive.
- Fetch a first aider. Who they are, where they sit, how they are reached.
- Make the emergency call if needed, with the full address and the floor.
- Meet the emergency services. One person goes to the entrance. In office buildings with access control this is where most time is lost.
- Give first aid until the emergency services arrive.
- Document it as soon as the situation allows.
Point four is almost always forgotten and regularly costs several minutes in locked office buildings. It should be named explicitly, with clear ownership.
Particular situations in an office
Two situations deserve their own rule, because the standard organisation does not cover them.
Lone working. Anyone alone in the building outside core hours cannot call for help. For regular lone working a rule belongs in the risk assessment, such as an obligation to report on leaving the building, or a check-in by phone.
Working from home. Employees at home are insured but alone. The reporting chain has to work there too: who is informed if someone is injured while working at home, and how the business finds out at all. More on this in Remote work and telework.
Documentation and the five-year rule
Every instance of first aid must be documented, including a single plaster (section 24 DGUV Regulation 1). The record must be kept available for five years. It captures date and time, the person affected, the sequence of events and type of injury, the help given, and who gave it.
The reason for the record is practical, not bureaucratic: an apparently harmless injury can become an insurance case weeks later. The entry is then the only evidence that the incident happened at work. Without it, the connection is hard to establish.
Data protection matters here: the records contain health data. A first-aid book lying open next to the kit is therefore a problem. The documentation belongs somewhere only authorised people can see it.
The line to the accident report
First-aid documentation and the accident report are two different things. Every instance of help is documented. An accident is only reported to the employers' liability insurance association once the injured person is unfit for work for more than three days, or the accident is fatal (section 193 SGB VII).
The two interlock: the entry in the documentation is often the basis from which the report is later produced, if it turns out that the incapacity exceeds the threshold. The deadlines and how to count them are set out in Accidents at work in the office.
What an inspection asks for
On first aid, an inspector typically asks about five things. Anyone who has them together can answer:
- Names and training status of the first aiders, with the attendance certificates and the date of the last refresher.
- First-aid supplies: location, completeness, expiry.
- The notice, current and visibly displayed.
- The documentation of first aid given over the last five years.
- The section of the risk assessment from which the first-aid organisation is derived.
What is missing most often is the training status: the first aiders are named, but the two-year deadline has passed without anyone tracking it. How to respond to such an enquiry overall is set out in A letter from the Berufsgenossenschaft; the BG risk check gives a read on where your business stands.
Part of the bigger picture
First aid is one of several building blocks, together with the risk assessment, safety training and documentation. The reporting chain belongs in every annual training session, so that nobody has to work out whom to call in an emergency. An overview of all the duties is given in Occupational safety in the office: the key duties.
Safety Club makes sure the first-aid organisation for office and administrative businesses is in place and documented, supported by an occupational safety specialist on site. Get advice if you are unsure how many first aiders you need.
This article is general guidance and does not replace legal advice on your individual case. What governs is the current version of the regulations mentioned, together with how your employers' liability insurance association (Berufsgenossenschaft, BG) interprets it.
