What is COSHH?

Request Quotation Free Assessment Free COSHH Pack

Everything You Need To Know About COSHH, In 90 Seconds!

Watch Our Simple And Clear COSHH Video Presentation Above And Save Yourself Time & Money

The health of thousands of individuals continues to be affected by exposure to hazardous substances, carcinogens and chemicals in the workplace. The government created the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations to ensure employers control chemical exposure and promote good health in the work place at all times.

These regulations are enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) who endeavour to monitor UK businesses to ensure that they comply with COSHH law. Breaking the COSHH regulations is breaking the law and is punishable by fines or jail.

It is inevitable that most companies will be using some hazardous substances. These could include thinners, air fresheners, washing up liquid, lubricants and much more. If you are using such chemicals then you need to adhere to COSHH regulations.

The HSE have set some core guidelines in which they expect employers to reduce exposure to harmful and hazardous substances. The list includes:

  • Identifying what the hazards are;
  • Determining how to prevent risk to health by completing a COSHH risk assessment;
  • Providing control measures to minimise harm to health;
  • Ensuring that control measures are adhered to and are in satisfactory working order;
  • The provision of information for staff along with training and instruction;
  • Allocating health surveillance for employees when necessary and
  • Planning for emergencies.

COSHH software can be used to enable your business become COSHH compliant. A user friendly COSHH software tool is a practical and important aid in developing and executing fully compliant COSHH risk assessments.

Safety data sheet management is also a very useful and time saving component. It is essential that if an SDS has been updated by the manufacturer, then you have this latest copy in your place of work. SDS management will provide automatic notification alerting you that an updated version is available to download.

A good COSHH management solution will help you control your COSHH risk assessments.

If you have a large number of chemicals and processes in place it is not recommended that you download a template from assessment vendors. This is frowned upon by the HSE and can pose an increased risk to the operator who may carry out a task differently to another operator.

It is crucial that the risk assessor has seen the process firsthand and spoken with the operator so that all risks associated with the task can be assessed as they actually are and not how they are assumed to be.

It is also imperative that you review your organisation’s processes and procedures. An efficient COSHH software tool provides alerts at the time your COSHH assessment needs reviewing.

You will make all this much easier by taking our free COSHH assessment test drive; here’s a few major benefits: