What this is
What is a first aid report?
What is a first aid report?
A record of an injury or illness treated at the workplace, capturing what happened, the treatment given, and enough information to determine whether the case is recordable and whether the event warrants investigation.
What counts as first aid under OSHA?
29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5)(ii) contains a closed list: non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength, tetanus immunisation, cleaning or flushing wounds on the surface of the skin, wound coverings such as bandages and butterfly bandages, hot or cold therapy, non-rigid means of support, temporary immobilisation for transport, drilling a nail to relieve pressure, eye patches, removing foreign bodies from the eye by irrigation or cotton swab, removing splinters by simple means, finger guards, massage, and drinking fluids for heat stress.
Scope
When is a first aid report required?
This records treatment given at the workplace. Recordability determination and investigation follow from it.
Use this template when
- Any injury or illness treated at the workplace, however minor
- Treatment provided by a first aider, occupational health nurse or any other person
- Cases where someone declined treatment but an injury occurred
- Events where treatment was given and no injury is apparent, such as eye irrigation after a splash
- Capturing the information needed to determine recordability
Do not use it for
- The OSHA 300 log and recordability determination, which follows from this record
- The incident report and investigation, which addresses the event rather than the treatment
- Occupational health and medical records, which are confidential and held separately
- Workers compensation claims, which follow different criteria
- Return to work records, which address the absence rather than the treatment
Compliance mapping
Which OSHA 1904.7 requirements does this satisfy?
Recordability is defined precisely in the OSHA recordkeeping rule, with first aid provision required separately.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| 29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5) | Medical treatment beyond first aid makes a case recordable, with first aid defined by an exhaustive list | Treatment |
| 29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5)(ii) | The closed list of treatments constituting first aid regardless of who provides them | Treatment |
| 29 CFR 1904.4 | Recording criteria: work-related injury or illness meeting one or more general recording criteria | Severity and potential |
| 29 CFR 1904.5 | Determination of work-relatedness, including the exceptions | What happened |
| 29 CFR 1910.151(b) | Adequate first aid provision where no infirmary or clinic is in near proximity | Treatment |
| 29 CFR 1904.35 | Employee reporting procedures that do not deter or discourage reporting | Event |
| ISO 45001 cl.10.2 | Incident investigation, applied proportionately including to minor injuries with serious potential | Follow up |
| RIDDOR (GB) | Separate reporting criteria based on injury type and absence duration | Severity and potential |
What it does not cover
- The OSHA 300 log, which records cases meeting the criteria this record helps determine.
- Incident investigation, which addresses how the event occurred.
- Occupational health records, which are confidential and held separately.
- Workers compensation claims, which follow different criteria entirely.
- Return to work records, addressing absence rather than treatment.
How to complete it
How to complete a first aid report, step by step
Record the treatment precisely, classify against the list, and capture potential as well as outcome.
Not treated or dressing applied, but what was actually done: wound irrigated, butterfly bandage applied, cold pack applied for fifteen minutes. Recordability turns on the specific treatment, and a vague description forces someone to reconstruct it later or to guess, usually in the direction that produces a lower number.
Check the treatment given against 1904.7(b)(5)(ii). Anything on the list is first aid; anything not on it is medical treatment and the case is recordable. The identity and qualification of the person providing it does not enter the determination at any point.
A splinter in a finger and a metal fragment that struck a safety spectacle lens are both first aid cases. One of them nearly cost someone an eye. Without a potential field, first aid data is ranked by treatment given, which correlates poorly with how serious the event was.
First aid cases are the highest-volume injury data a site holds and they are the most sensitive to reporting culture, because they are minor enough that not reporting is easy. Where a first aid visit prompts a conversation about performance, the data thins out and the leading indicator disappears.
What auditors find
Most common first aid report findings
First aid findings concentrate on classification and on what happens to the data.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Recordability determined by who treated the injury. | 1904.7(b)(5) | The list is the test; the provider's qualification is irrelevant. |
| Treatment described too vaguely to classify. | 1904.7(b)(5)(ii) | Record the specific treatment; recordability turns on it. |
| Prescription-strength medication treated as first aid. | 1904.7(b)(5)(ii)(A) | Only non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength is first aid. |
| Wound closure by sutures, staples or adhesive treated as first aid. | 1904.7(b)(5)(ii) | Only butterfly bandages and Steri-Strips are on the list; closure devices are medical treatment. |
| Potential severity not recorded. | ISO 45001 cl.10.2 | Treatment given is a poor proxy for how close the event came to being serious. |
| First aid data not analysed for patterns. | ISO 45001 cl.6.1.2 | It is the highest-volume injury data most sites hold and the least examined. |
| Reporting associated with performance consequences. | 1904.35 | Any cost attached to reporting removes the highest-volume leading indicator. |
| Work-relatedness determination not recorded. | 1904.5 | Record the reasoning, including where an exception was applied. |
| Contractor and agency first aid cases not captured. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1.4 | Include them; exclusion produces a site injury picture missing the higher-risk work. |
| Cases where treatment was declined not recorded at all. | 1904.7 | An injury occurred; recordability may still apply and the event still matters. |
Case in point
Case in point: the nurse and the bandage
A site employed an occupational health nurse and applied a working rule that anything the nurse treated was medical treatment while anything a first aider handled was first aid. It was simple, consistently applied, and produced a recordable rate substantially higher than comparable sites.
The rule has no basis in the regulation. Under 1904.7(b)(5), first aid is defined by an exhaustive list of treatments, and the qualification of the person providing them is not part of the test. A nurse cleaning a wound and applying a butterfly bandage is providing first aid.
Correcting the classification reduced the recordable rate considerably. It also revealed that several cases had been classified the other way, as first aid because a first aider handled them, where the treatment given was outside the list.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
6 sections
- Reference
- SAF-003
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- CASE-2026-000
- Scoring
- Actual severity, potential severity
- Direction
- High is bad
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- OSHA 1904.7, WorkSafeBC 3.16
- Links
- Feeds RCA where potential is high
- Tags
- Incident, Health
- Sections
- 6
- Fields
- 38
- Follow up fields
- 9
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 5
Event
6 fieldsCase ID*
Auto sequence. Format CASE-2026-00000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time of Event*
Date Reported*
A gap between these two is worth understanding on its own.
Reported By*
Person ID*
Format PER-0000.
Links to FDN-003 Person ID
Where
4 fieldsSite*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Area*
The area within the site.
Exact Location
Drop a pin for anything hard to find.
What happened
7 fieldsDescription*
Facts only. What happened, in the order it happened.
Photographs
Wide shots and close ups, before anything is moved.
Equipment Involved*
Asset
Asset ID
Format AST-0000.
Links to FDN-002 Asset ID
Was Machine Running
Guard Or Control In Place
- Yes, correctly fitted2 pts
- Yes, but bypassed0 pts
- No0 pts
Treatment
9 fieldsInjured Person*
Person ID*
Format PER-0000.
Links to FDN-003 Person ID
Body Part*
Injury Type*
Treatment Given*
What was actually done, by whom.
First Aider*
Returned To Work*
- Yes, same shift3 pts
- Yes, next shift2 pts
- No0 pts
First Aid Supplies Used
So the kit can be restocked before the next shift.
Kit Restocked
Severity and potential
6 fieldsSeverity Guidance
A first aid injury with fatality potential is investigated as a fatality. Rate potential on what could have happened, not on the dressing you applied.
Actual Severity*
- No injury4 pts
- First aid3 pts
- Medical treatment2 pts
- Lost time1 pt
- Fatality0 pts
Maximum Potential Loss*
The worst credible outcome had circumstances been slightly different.
- Minor4 pts
- Moderate3 pts
- Serious2 pts
- Fatal or catastrophic0 pts
Investigation Required*
Set by potential outcome, not by what actually happened.
- No3 pts
- Yes0 pts
Investigation Level
RCA ID
Format RCA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-013 RCA ID
Follow up
6 fieldsAction Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
First Aider*
Signature*
SAF-003 · record IDs look like CASE-2026-000 · Feeds RCA where potential is high
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The record captures treatment. What fails is classification by impression and data nobody analysed.
Records the specific treatment, classifies against the regulatory list rather than by provider, and captures potential alongside outcome.
Aggregates first aid cases by location, task and body part, surfacing concentrations in the largest injury dataset a site holds.
Keeps clinical detail separate from the operational record while making the recordability determination auditable.
Captures contractor and agency cases, whose exclusion produces an injury picture missing the higher-risk work.
This template lives in KnowSafe — safety and compliance. Incidents, hazards, permits, inspections and the critical controls behind them.
Meet KnowSafe→Glossary
First Aid Report definitions and key terms
- First aid
- Treatment appearing on the exhaustive list at 1904.7(b)(5)(ii), regardless of who provides it.
- Medical treatment
- Management and care of a patient to combat disease or disorder, excluding the listed first aid treatments, making a case recordable.
- Recordable case
- A work-related injury or illness meeting the general recording criteria, including medical treatment beyond first aid.
- Work-relatedness
- Whether an event in the work environment caused or contributed to the condition, subject to defined exceptions.
- Butterfly bandage
- A wound closure strip explicitly listed as first aid, distinguished from sutures, staples and adhesives.
- Non-prescription strength
- Medication at over-the-counter dosage. Prescription strength, even of an over-the-counter drug, is medical treatment.
- Potential severity
- How serious the event could have been, recorded separately from the treatment actually required.
- Leading indicator
- Data preceding serious harm, of which first aid cases are the highest-volume example most sites hold.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about first aid report
Does it matter who provides the treatment?+
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. 29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5) defines first aid by an exhaustive list of treatments. A physician applying a butterfly bandage is providing first aid. A first aider giving prescription-strength medication is providing medical treatment. The qualification of the provider is not part of the test at any point.
What is on the first aid list?+
Non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength, tetanus immunisation, cleaning or flushing surface wounds, wound coverings including butterfly bandages, hot or cold therapy, non-rigid support, temporary immobilisation for transport, drilling a nail to relieve pressure, eye patches, removing eye foreign bodies by irrigation or swab, removing splinters by simple means, finger guards, massage, and fluids for heat stress. Anything else is medical treatment.
Are butterfly bandages really first aid?+
Yes, and so are Steri-Strips. Sutures, staples and wound closure adhesives are medical treatment. This is one of the clearest examples of a distinction that has no clinical logic and is entirely a matter of what the regulation lists, which is why classifying by impression produces wrong answers.
Why record potential severity?+
Because treatment given is a poor proxy for seriousness. A metal fragment stopped by a safety lens produces no treatment at all, and a splinter produces a first aid case. Without a potential field, the highest-volume injury data a site holds is ranked by how much treatment was needed rather than by how close the event came to being serious.
What should we do with first aid data?+
Analyse it. It is the largest injury dataset most sites hold, it is closest in time to the conditions producing harm, and because the cases are not recordable it is rarely reported upward or examined for pattern. Aggregating by location, task and body part is straightforward and routinely reveals concentrations nobody had noticed.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Incident and Investigation
Root Cause Analysis
Finds out why something happened rather than who was involved
Corrective and Preventive Action
The single action record used everywhere
Finding
Records a single deficiency picked up during an audit, inspection or check
Effectiveness Verification
Checks whether an action actually worked, some time after it was put in place
Just Culture Determination
Separates a system problem from a genuine choice to take a risk, using a consistent set of questions
Extent of Condition Review
Asks two questions after an investigation: where else does this same condition exist, and where else could this same cause bite us
More in Incidents
Incident Report
Records any unplanned event that caused harm, damage or loss
Near Miss Report
Records something that could have caused harm but did not
Medical Treatment Report
Records an injury needing treatment beyond first aid
Lost Time Report
Records an injury that keeps a worker away from work beyond the day it happened
Property Damage Report
Records damage to equipment, buildings or stock where nobody was hurt
Vehicle Incident Report
Records a collision or vehicle event on site involving forklifts, yard trucks or visiting vehicles
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- 29 CFR 1904.7, general recording criteria including the first aid list, OSHA
- 29 CFR 1904.5, determination of work-relatedness, OSHA
- 29 CFR 1904.35, employee involvement and reporting procedures, OSHA
- 29 CFR 1910.151, medical services and first aid, OSHA
- ISO 45001:2018 clauses 10.2 and 6.1.2
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.