Requirements for First Aid and Emergency Medical Care Activities at the Workplace

Accordingly, Circular 19 stipulates the arrangement of first aid and emergency response personnel, the provision of equipment, devices, and materials for first aid and emergency response based on the following factors:

- Type of production, nature of hazardous and harmful elements;- Number of workers, number of work shifts; shift arrangement;- Potential risk of accidents occurring at the workplace;- Distance from the workplace to the nearest medical facility;- Labor accident rate (if any).

For workplaces using toxic chemicals or corrosive substances, emergency showers and eyewash stations must be provided at accessible locations within the work area and maintained according to the manufacturer's regulations or legal provisions (if any).

Additionally, Circular 19 also stipulates that workplaces using chemicals classified as hazardous according to chemical law must have chemical safety data sheets in Vietnamese, clearly stating first aid and emergency response instructions for those chemicals. These sheets should be placed near first aid kits for easy access. If the chemicals used include antidotes, the antidotes and their usage instructions in Vietnamese must be available in the first aid kit.

Workplaces must have first aid and emergency response personnel meeting the legal requirements.

Furthermore, Circular 19 mandates the public disclosure of information about the location and quantity of first aid kits, equipment, emergency response means, first aid rooms or areas, and the list of first aid and emergency response team members in the work areas of the labor facility so that workers are informed and can use them when necessary.

Note that the equipment and means for first aid and emergency response (including first aid kits) and the number of first aid and emergency responders must be periodically inspected and reviewed to ensure they are always in good working condition and compliant with legal requirements.

See details at Circular 19/2016/TT-BYT, effective from August 15, 2016.

-Thao Uyen-

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