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CoSHH Regulations: Some tips and advice

CoSHH Regulations: Some tips and advice

What is CoSHH?

CoSHH or the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health 2002 is the law that requires employers to control substances that are hazardous to health.

The Objectives of CoSHH

The main objective of CoSHH is to prevent, or adequately control, exposure to hazardous substances, so as to prevent ill health. This can be done by:

• using control equipment, eg total enclosure, partial enclosure, LEV;
• controlling procedures, eg ways of working, supervision and training to reduce exposure, maintenance, examination and testing of control measures;
• worker behaviour, making sure employees follow the control measures.

-HSE 2012

Most industries and businesses use substances that are hazardous to health in one form or another, although some uses are more dangerous and pose greater threats to health. Therefore, control measures must be proportionate to the risk and work within reasonable practicality. It is also important to note that if you are self-employed then this information and the CoSHH regulations still apply to you and your work.

CoSHH requires employees at risk to be provided with training and information relevant to their work situation and to their immediate needs. This includes employees who are temporary workers, maintenance staff and cleaning staff. It is good practise to keep and maintain basic training records for both the employers and employees benefit.

The regulations require employees to know the names of the hazardous substances they work with and are liable to be exposed to, along with the risks to health that these substances may generate through exposure.

Employees should also be aware of:

Any workplace exposure standard or maximum exposure limit (imposed by CoSHH or the business) that applies to the substances they will be handling.
Information on safety data sheets that relates to the substances in use.
Any significant findings of the risk assessment and the collective results of any health surveillance.
The precautions necessary to protect themselves and their fellow employees.
Results and findings of any monitoring of exposure. This is especially important if the findings exceed the maximum exposure limits.

Implementing CoSHH Regulations

When implementing CoSHH regulations it is always important to consider what tasks and applications are performed, in your line of work, which involve hazardous substances. From this you can then focus upon how these may cause harm to employees and how this risk can be reduced.

Regulations on storage and transportation should always be followed. At Direct2U we have a range of CoSHH cabinets and Hazardous Storage Cabinets which meet these strict regulations.
You should aim to prevent exposure to hazardous substances from the source, either by substituting the hazardous substance for a milder, less harmful substance, or by altering the process to a safer one. For example, this can be achieved by selecting a water based rather than a solvent based product.
However, it is recognised that these changes cannot always be implemented, so in such instances the correct control measures must be introduced. These may include local exhaust ventilation, control equipment, and enclosure or ways of working and work behaviour.
Where control measures will not suffice the use of correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) should be introduced.