What is CoSHH and Who Must Comply

Each year, thousands of workers develop ill health as a result of their exposure to hazardous substances. They may develop diseases such as asthma, cancer or dermatitis.

As an employer, it is your responsibility to ensure effective measures are in place to control exposure and protect the health of your workers. This responsibility is a legal requisite held in place by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (CoSHH) Regulations 2002.

There is an 8 step process to follow in order to comply with CoSHH:

Step 1: Find out what the health implications are created by hazardous substances used in or around your place of work.

Step 2: Decide what precautions should be taken to prevent harm to health. A CoSHH risk assessment will help you to identify which work exposes your employees to hazardous substances.Examine what further action needs to be taken. If you decide that there are risks to health then you must take action to protect your workers health.

Step 3: Provide control measures which adequately prevent or control exposure. If it is not possible to prevent exposure then it must be adequately controlled. This may involve you changing the process so that the hazardous substance is no longer generated or possibly using a safer alternative such as using pellets as opposed to powder.

Step 4: Ensure that control measures are used and maintained.COSHH requires your workers to make proper use of control measures and to report defects

Step 5: Ensure safety procedures are adhered to. It is pointless having the controls in place if they are not being followed.

Step 6: Ensure that all necessary information, instruction and training is provided for employees (including temporary visitors, contractors etc).

Step 7: Carry out health surveillance and monitoring in appropriate cases.Health surveillance should be carried out when an employee is exposed to a hazardous substance or to a substance which is known to have adverse health effects.

Step 8: Ensure emergency procedures are in place to deal with accidents and incidents involving hazardous substances. In such circumstances, you must plan your response to an emergency involving hazardous substances before it actually happens.

The majority of businesses use substances or products that are a mixture of substances. These could cause a health hazard to workers, contractors and other people.

CoSHH Regulations relate to a large variety of substances and preparations which have the capability of causing harm if they are inhaled, ingested or exposed or absorbed through the skin.

Substances hazardous to health can appear in many forms such as solids, liquids, vapours, gases, dust, fumes and smoke.