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    QHSEtech
    Updated 22 September 2026
    Software Guide · Reviewed 22 September 2026

    First aid management: cover, kit, and the record

    This is a small category that fails in three specific ways. Nobody trained is on the night shift because the roster and the certificate expiry dates live in different systems. The AED battery expired and the monthly check was a signature on a sheet in a cupboard. And the treatment log — which contains health information about named individuals — is in a book anyone can read, or in a system where everyone has access. Software earns its place by closing those three gaps, and most of the evaluation is about the third.

    Jump to the 6 products

    Editorial responsibility: Dimitris Mitsios (Founder of The QHSE Standard; product marketing at Tekmon) · Tekmon pays for sponsored placements on this site (disclosure) · How pages are made · LinkedIn · Content date: 22 September 2026

    On this page (8 sections)

    What the duty actually is

    Great Britain's HSE frames first aid provision as an assessment: employers must provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and people, with what counts as adequate depending on the hazards, the size of the workforce, shift patterns, site layout and remoteness. There is no universal ratio to configure to, which means the software's job is to hold your assessment and show whether provision matches it right now — not to apply a rule of thumb. Great Britain HSE: first aid at work

    US requirements are framed differently, with medical and first aid provisions including the availability of trained personnel where no infirmary or clinic is in near proximity. Confirm what applies to your sites rather than configuring to either regime by default. US OSHA: medical and first aid

    There is a second boundary worth drawing early. Whether an event is recordable for injury and illness recordkeeping purposes is a separate determination from whether first aid was given — in the US scheme, treatment classed as first aid is specifically distinguished from medical treatment beyond first aid. A platform that treats every first aid entry as an incident, or that silently feeds a treatment log into a recordable count, will distort your figures. US OSHA: injury and illness recordkeeping, 29 CFR 1904

    Products whose records document first aid functions

    These products document some first aid function in their researched profiles: a first aid injury record, first-aider certification or reminders, or first aid forms. First aid is usually a small part of a wider incident or emergency product, so read each profile for what is actually described, and test it against your own first aid arrangements. A product on this list is not shown to meet any legal first aid requirement.

    Ordered by how closely our sources document this process, not by quality. Sponsored placements are labelled. How lists are ordered

    Same rule for every product: tagged “Incident Management”, “Audits & Inspections”, “Safety Management”, “EHS Management”, “Construction Safety”, “Occupational Health”, “Quality Management” or “Safety Observation”, with a sourced first aid records, first-aider certification or first aid equipment capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. 6 qualify.

    Three gaps, in order of how often they bite

    Cover against the roster

    Not how many first aiders you employ, but whether one qualified and available person is on each shift at each location. Ask the system to show a gap next Tuesday night, and what it does when a certificate expires mid-roster.

    Kit and AED serviceability

    Contents, expiry dates, monthly checks and battery or pad replacement, tied to a physical location someone can find in an emergency. Ask what an overdue check triggers, and who is told.

    The treatment record

    This contains health information about an identifiable person. Establish who can read it, whether the safety team can, how long it is retained, and whether it is separable from the incident record that a wider group will see.

    The demonstration: expire a certificate and read a record

    1

    Expire a first aider's certificate mid-roster

    Set a qualification to lapse next week and establish what the system does: shows a cover gap on the affected shifts, notifies someone, or simply marks the person expired and leaves the roster looking full.

    2

    Let an AED check go overdue

    Skip a monthly check and confirm what escalates, to whom, and whether the device's location record is precise enough for someone to find it under pressure.

    3

    Record a treatment, then try to read it as a colleague

    Log a treatment with health details, then sign in as a line manager and as a safety administrator. Establish exactly who can read what. This is the step that most often exposes a problem.

    4

    Separate first aid from the recordable determination

    Confirm that a treatment entry does not automatically become a recordable case, that the classification is a deliberate decision by a named person, and that the reasoning is retained.

    5

    Produce evidence of provision for one site

    Export the first aider cover, certificates, kit checks and AED records for one location over a period, without the treatment details that a wider audience should not see.

    Where the products are

    We hold no researched profile for a dedicated first aid management product, so this page names none rather than listing vendors we have not checked. In practice the capability is assembled: training management for certificates and expiry, asset inspection or PPE management for kit and AED checks, and occupational health for the treatment record and its access controls.

    The last of those matters most. Occupational health platforms are built on the assumption that health information is restricted from the safety team; general incident platforms usually are not. If you intend to keep treatment details in your EHS system, make the access model an explicit requirement rather than discovering it afterwards. See also incident management for the injury record that sits beside it.

    Questions that separate candidates

    Can the system show a first aider cover gap for a future shift?
    What happens to the roster when a certificate expires mid-period?
    Are kit and AED checks tied to a findable physical location?
    What does an overdue AED check trigger, and who is notified?
    Who can read a treatment record — line manager, safety team, HR?
    Is the treatment detail separable from the incident record?
    How long are treatment records retained, and what is deleted?
    Does a first aid entry automatically become a recordable case?
    Is the recordability decision attributed to a person with its reasoning?
    Can provision evidence be exported without treatment details?

    Sources and evaluation limits

    3 sources, checked 22 Sep 2026

    Great Britain: Great Britain HSE: first aid at work. United States: US OSHA: medical and first aid; US OSHA: injury and illness recordkeeping, 29 CFR 1904. All checked 22 September 2026.

    The previous version of this page described first aid provision in general terms without citing a requirement, and implied that software makes a programme audit-ready. It does not; it holds evidence that an assessment was made and that provision matches it. What counts as adequate provision depends on your hazards, workforce, shifts and site layout, and is a judgement for the people accountable for it.

    We name no products, rank nothing and have tested nothing hands-on. Treatment records contain health data about identifiable people; handling, retention and access are governed by data protection law in most jurisdictions and should involve whoever is accountable for that in your organisation. Nothing here is legal or clinical advice.

    Software categories to explore

    Use this Process to define the work, then explore these software types. Confirm the exact workflow and module with each vendor.

    See all software categories

    Related Guides

    Occupational Health SoftwareIncident Management SoftwareTraining Management SoftwarePPE Management SoftwareAsset Inspection SoftwareEmergency Response Software

    More related guides

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How many first aiders do we need?
    There is no universal ratio to configure software to. Great Britain's HSE frames it as an assessment based on your hazards, workforce size, shift patterns, site layout and remoteness, and US requirements are framed differently again. The useful software question is not how many you employ but whether one qualified, available person is on each shift at each location — and whether the system can show you a gap before it happens.
    Is a first aid case recordable?
    Not automatically, and conflating the two distorts your figures. In the US injury and illness recordkeeping scheme, treatment classed as first aid is specifically distinguished from medical treatment beyond first aid. Whichever scheme applies to you, make sure a treatment entry does not silently become a recordable case: the classification should be a deliberate decision by a named person, with the reasoning retained.
    Who should be able to read a treatment record?
    Fewer people than usually can. A treatment log contains health information about an identifiable individual, and the common failure is that everyone with access to the incident system can read it. Test this directly by signing in as a line manager and as a safety administrator. Occupational health platforms are generally built for this restriction; general incident platforms often are not.
    Do we need dedicated first aid software?
    Often not. The three jobs — certificate and roster cover, kit and AED checks, and the treatment record — map onto training management, inspection or PPE management, and occupational health respectively. If you already hold those, the gap is usually the join between certificates and the roster, and the access model on the treatment record. Establish both before buying something new.
    Which products should we evaluate?
    We hold no dated, sourced profile for a dedicated first aid product, so we name none rather than publishing vendors we have not checked. Use the questions on this page against whatever shortlist you assemble, and give particular weight to the access-control test, because it is the one that is hardest to fix after implementation.