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Sudden cardiac arrest takes ~350,000 American lives each year. Survival can exceed 70% when a shock is delivered within 3 minutes. Get CPR + AED trained →
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AED for Construction Sites
  • Industry guide · Construction sites

Best AED for construction 2026: rugged enough for the gang box.

IP55 minimum · Drop-tested · Trailer-ready
Construction stacks every arrest risk on one site: heavy exertion, an older trade workforce, electrical contact from one of OSHA's Focus Four hazards, and job locations where EMS response can run past 14 minutes. The device that survives here is IP55 or better, drop-tested, and mounted where a foreman finds it in seconds. This guide picks three that qualify and reads the actual OSHA text instead of inventing a mandate.
10,000
Sudden cardiac arrests at US workplaces per year
~17x
Transient SCA risk during vigorous exertion vs rest
14+ min
Median rural EMS response, the remote-site reality
IP56
Highest ingress rating in a portable AED today · our budget pick has it
  • Direct answer

The best AED for most construction operations is the Philips HeartStart FRx, $2,099 at 2026 US list: IP55-rated, manufacturer drop- and crush-tested, with an 8-year warranty that outlives most projects. Per-truck fleets should standardize on the IP56 HeartSine 350P; fixed site offices, the self-testing Powerheart G5.

  • 🏆 Top 3 Picks

Which AED survives your kind of site?

Three picks, three jobsite realities: the flagship rugged unit, the per-truck fleet standard, and the site-office anchor. Prices are 2026 US list at authorized distributors; every model is FDA-approved via PMA.
Heartsine Samaritan PAD 350P Products
Lightest AED
HeartSine

Heartsine Samaritan PAD 350P

Decision shortcut The HeartSine 350P puts the pads and the battery in one cartridge with

SKU

SAM-350P

FDA PMA

PMA P160008

Manufacturer

HeartSine

From

$1,411.00
Shop →
Philips HeartStart FRx AED 861304 Product
🏆 Editor's Pick
Philips

Philips HeartStart FRx

Decision shortcut The Philips HeartStart FRx ($2,099, 2026 US list) covers adults and children on

SKU

861304

FDA PMA

P180028

Manufacturer

Philips Healthcare

From

$2,099.00
Shop →
Cardiac Science Powerheart G5 AED Product
Fully Auto
Cardiac Science

Powerheart G5 AED

Powerheart G5 AED Features Semi- or Fully Automatic Shock Delivery This device comes in both

SKU

G5A-80A-P

FDA PMA

P160033

Manufacturer

Cardiac Science

From

$2,157.00
Shop →
Not sure which AED? · 60-second match · FDA PMA

Match your facility to the right FDA-approved AED.

Every setting has a different best pick: pediatric capability for schools, real-time CPR feedback for gyms, a video screen for public lobbies. Answer a few questions and get a matched, FDA-approved (PMA) recommendation with 2026 pricing.

FDA PMA approvedMatched to your setting2026 pricingNo sales pressure
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Not sure which AED is right for your space?
Answer 4 quick questions and we'll match you to one of 14 FDA-approved AEDs — independently reviewed, MD-approved.
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⚡ Quantity planning

How many AEDs does your facility need?

The AHA program target is simple: a responder retrieves the AED and returns to the victim in about 3 minutes, proven with a stopwatch, not a formula. The AHA publishes no square-feet-per-AED coefficient, so treat every calculator output, ours included, as a planning estimate you validate with a timed walking drill on your actual floor plan.

Survival drops with every minute of delay before defibrillation, which is why placement beats brand choice in almost every deployment.

Find Your Perfect AED

5 questions about your environment, training, and budget. Matched to a specific model with the reasoning shown.

Take the 60-second quiz →

AED Quantity Calculator

Floors, detached buildings, and risk zones in, planning estimate out. Then validate with a walking drill.

Plan your coverage →

AED Cost Calculator

Device, pads, batteries, and cabinet over a multi-year horizon, with 2026 pricing and visible math.

Estimate total cost →
Replacing pads and batteries on schedule is where most programs quietly fail. The pads and batteries guide covers expiry cycles by model, and new buyers should start at the complete buyer’s guide or the basics in what is an AED.
  • Construction AED rules

What does OSHA actually require on site?

No AED mandate exists for construction, and any page implying one is selling. What does exist is sharper than most GCs realize:
The construction standard

29 CFR 1926.50

First aid personnel and supplies are required when a clinic or hospital is not "reasonably accessible in terms of time." Remote sites are the textbook case of that clause, and an AED is the strongest way to satisfy its spirit.

Read 1926.50

OSHA's endorsement

Publication 3185

OSHA estimates about 10,000 workplace cardiac arrests a year and endorses AED programs outright[3]. Guidance, not mandate, and inspectors know the difference.

Read Publication 3185

The Focus Four

OSHA construction hazards

Falls, struck-by, caught-in-between, and electrocution. The fourth one matters here: electrical contact can trigger ventricular fibrillation, the rhythm an AED exists to fix.

OSHA construction hub

Contracts + insurers

The private-law layer

Some GCs and carriers write AED expectations into site safety plans and wrap-up policies by crew size. Check the contract before the code; all 50 states protect good-faith rescuers either way[8].

50-state tracker

Or browse the full map with every verdict side by side on the AED Industries hub.
  • Budget reality

What does a jobsite AED actually cost over 5 years?

Typical 5-year math per unit with cabinet, 2026 US list for devices, typical street pricing for consumables (labeled estimates). Fleet math: a 6-truck 350P program lands near $10,000 over 5 years, which is less than one OSHA serious citation:

 

Cost line Philips FRx HeartSine 350P Powerheart G5
Device · 2026 US list $2,099 $1,411 $2,157
Pads over 5 yrs (est.) ~$150 · 2x SMART Pads II ~$169 · 1x Pad-Pak (pads + battery, one cartridge) ~$210 · 2x Intellisense pads
Battery over 5 yrs (est.) ~$89 · 1x M5070A (4-yr) ~$399 · 1x Intellisense battery
Cabinet or truck mount (est.) ~$199 ~$199 ~$199
5-year total per unit (est.) ~$2,380 ~$1,660 ~$2,965

Consumable and mount figures are typical 2026 US street pricing at authorized distributors and vary by package; device prices are 2026 US list. Trailer heat shortens nothing if storage ranges are respected; see the pads guide and batteries. Run your zone count in the Cost Calculator; 5+ units across projects belongs in a fleet quote.

  • Free tool · 60 seconds · no email

Still between two models? Let the quiz decide.

Answer a few questions about your building, your staff, and your budget and get one specific model with the reasoning shown, weighted by the same four features this page taught you. Multi-location chains should take the fleet path instead.
Find your perfect AED
Multi-location quote (5+ units)
  • Weighted by the 4 features
  • FDA-approved models only
  • 2026 pricing shown
  • Reasoning explained
  • Program checklist

The safety officer's 10-point AED checklist

Read 1926.50 against your site's real EMS access time; remote sites trigger its clause hardest (state layer here).
Check the GC contract and wrap-up policy for AED thresholds before pricing anything.
Anchor a unit at the trailer or entrance gang box, marked, on the muster path.
Walk the stopwatch drill from the farthest work position monthly; the site moves, so the answer changes.
Stage vertical units as the structure climbs and send truck units with remote crews.
Train the safety officer and every foreman in CPR plus AED together (why both). Crew sessions at CPR1.
Run the retrieval drill as a quarterly toolbox talk and log it with the safety paperwork.
Respect storage temperature ranges in trailers and truck boxes; calendar pad and battery expiries ( pads guide).
Add the AED check to mobilization and demobilization checklists so units move with the job, not into storage.
Brief crews on arrest vs heat exhaustion vs heart attack so escalation starts fast (2-minute explainer).
  • Buyer questions

Construction AED questions, answered straight

No. The construction first aid standard 1926.50 requires trained personnel and supplies where a clinic is not “reasonably accessible in terms of time”[4], and Publication 3185 endorses AED programs without mandating them[3]. Remote sites are the exact case that time language describes.

One at the trailer plus one per detached zone or crew truck, with vertical projects staging units up the structure (planning estimates). The monthly stopwatch drill from the farthest work position is the real answer[2]; start with the Quantity Calculator.

IP55 minimum, IP56 if you can get it, which is the highest rating in a portable AED today, held by the 350P. Add manufacturer-published drop testing and storage temperature ranges that survive trailer summers; the IP guide decodes the numbers.

Electrocution is one of OSHA’s Focus Four construction hazards[5], and electrical contact can trigger ventricular fibrillation, the rhythm defibrillation exists to correct. Crews on energized work carry the strongest case for a truck-mounted unit; utility line crews get their own guide here.

Per unit over 5 years: roughly $1,660 (350P), $2,380 (FRx), $2,965 (G5), estimates with visible math above. A 6-truck 350P fleet lands near $10,000 over 5 years. Run your count in the Cost Calculator and quote 5+ units as a fleet.

Both, eventually: the anchor stays at the trailer on the muster path, and truck units travel with remote crews where EMS medians pass 14 minutes[7]. Never locked in a personal vehicle. New to the device class? Start with what an AED is and the buyer’s guide.

  • Why public-access AEDs work

The evidence behind every claim on this page.

AED Best Brands is an editorial AED-review publication, independent of every AED manufacturer. No manufacturer pays for placement or sees a verdict early. Every number below links to its primary source.

10,000

Workplace arrests yearly

OSHA's count across US workplaces

74%

Survival at 3 minutes

Public-access shocks within 3 min of collapse

60%

Shockable in public

Witnessed public arrests with VF/VT vs 35% at home

2-3x

Survival multiplier

Immediate CPR while the AED arrives

Read Full Methodology
Meet our advisory board

References · primary sources

  1. ClinicalAmerican Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, annual update. Circulation. heart.org statistics
  2. ProgramAmerican Heart Association. Implementing an AED Program, 2023 guide. cpr.heart.org AED guide (PDF)
  3. WorkplaceOSHA. Saving Sudden Cardiac Arrest Victims in the Workplace, Publication 3185. osha.gov publication 3185
  4. RegulationOSHA. Medical Services and First Aid (Construction), 29 CFR 1926.50. osha.gov 1926.50
  5. HazardsOSHA. Construction industry hub and Focus Four hazards. osha.gov construction
  6. ClinicalAlbert CM, et al. Triggering of sudden death from cardiac causes by vigorous exertion. NEJM. 2000;343:1355-1361. nejm.org
  7. ClinicalMell HK, et al. Emergency medical services response times in rural, suburban, and urban areas. JAMA Surgery. 2017;152(10):983-984. jamanetwork.com
  8. LegalCDC. Public Access Defibrillation State Law Fact Sheet. cdc.gov PAD fact sheet
Updated · July 2026 Review methodology Medical Advisory Board AED Laws by State All 22 Industries AED Resource Library
Key takeaways
  • •Match the AED to who will use it: most settings need a unit an untrained bystander can operate with clear voice prompts, like the Philips OnSite or ZOLL AED Plus.
  • •Plan for a shock within about three minutes: that response-time goal drives how many units you need and where they go, more than floor area does.
  • •Budget for the full life, and consider recertified: pads and battery add to the cost, and a recertified unit can cost well below new. Use our Find your perfect AED quiz or see best refurbished AEDs.
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