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2 May 2023

Don't Risk Your Business - Follow These Steps

By:Luke Halliwell
|
Categories:Risk Assessment
|
6 min read

If you use any kind of substance that could be harmful to health in your business, then you need to carry out a COSHH risk assessment. Learn the essential steps to protect your employees and stay compliant.

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If you use any kind of substance that could be harmful to health in your business, then you need to carry out a COSHH risk assessment. This is a legal requirement, and it is essential for the safety of you and your employees. Here are the steps you need to take to carry out a COSHH risk assessment.

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Don't Risk Your Business - Follow These Essential Steps for a COSHH Risk Assessment

Identify the Hazards

The first step is to identify the hazards in your workplace. You need to think about all of the substances that are used in your business, and how they could be harmful. This includes things like cleaning products, chemicals, solvents, and adhesives. Once you have identified the hazards, you need to think about how people could be exposed to them. This includes skin contact, inhalation, and ingestion.

Evaluate the Risks

Once you have identified the hazards and exposure routes, you need to evaluate the risks. You need to consider how likely it is that people will be harmed by the substance, and how severe the harm could be. You also need to think about any vulnerable people in your workforce, such as pregnant women or people with asthma.

Control the Risks

The next step is to put controls in place to reduce the risks from the substances in your workplace. There are a number of different controls that you can put in place, including ventilation, PPE, substitution, and education. You need to select the controls that are most appropriate for your workplace.

Review of Assessment

Once you've completed an assessment, it's important that you review the results. You can do this by identifying any changes that need to be made and reviewing the action taken to eliminate hazard or reduce risk. A good example of this would be a chemical substance which has undergone a physical change during use, such as becoming more toxic or reactive. In this case, it would be necessary to discharge the product safely rather than disposing of it in normal waste streams.

Continue to Monitor Risks

You should regularly monitor and review the risks from substances in your workplace. This is important because new substances may be introduced, or existing ones may change. You also need to keep an eye on changes in technology or working practices that could affect the risks. Finally, you should review your risk assessment if there are any accidents or near-misses involving hazardous substances.

Legal Requirement

Carrying out a COSHH risk assessment is essential if you use any kind of harmful substance in your business. It is a legal requirement, and it will help you to protect yourself and your employees from harm.

Learn More About COSHH Risk Assessments

We hope that you found this risk assessment blog helpful. If so, please check out our other blogs and share them with your friends.

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Make Sure You're Compliant with COSHH Regulations - Sevron Ltd Can Help!

We are here to help you with your COSHH compliance.

Sevron Ltd can assist you with any questions you have, or we can even walk you through using our system.

To learn more about how we can help, visit our contact page, give us a call at +44(0)28 4378 0470 or send us an email at support@sevron.co.uk.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Make the Best Decisions for Your Company's Future

We're committed to helping you make the best decisions possible for your company, whether that means understanding what's happened in the past or anticipating what may happen in the future. That's why Sevron Ltd offers comprehensive risk assessment services that give you a complete picture of your business and its risks, so you can make informed decisions about how to move forward.


Want to Learn More About Risk Assessments? Keep Reading Below

What is Risk Assessment?

A COSHH risk assessment is a process of assessing the risks to workers from hazardous substances in the workplace. The assessment involves identifying the hazards, assessing the risks, and implementing controls to reduce the risks.

What Are the 3 Parts of a Risk Assessment?

COSHH risk assessments are important for ensuring the safety of employees who work with hazardous materials. There are three parts to a COSHH risk assessment: identifying the hazards, assessing the risks, and implementing controls.

Identifying the hazards is the first step in a COSHH risk assessment. This involves looking at the materials being used and identifying the ones that are hazardous.

Once the hazards have been identified, the risks associated with them need to be assessed. This includes looking at how likely it is for someone to be exposed to the hazard and what the consequences of exposure could be.

The last step in a COSHH risk assessment is to implement controls. This is where measures are put in place to minimise the risks associated with the identified hazards. Controls can include things like using personal protective equipment or changing the way a task is carried out.

What is a Risk Assessment Example?

One example could be a document that outlines the potential risks associated with a certain activity and how these risks can be mitigated. It typically includes a list of hazards, a description of the potential effects of these hazards, and steps that can be taken to prevent or reduce these effects.

For example, if you're going to be using chemicals in your workplace, you would need to complete a COSHH risk assessment. This assessment would identify the potential health and safety risks associated with using these chemicals, such as exposure to harmful fumes or skin contact. It would then outline steps that can be taken to mitigate these risks, such as wearing protective clothing or using ventilation systems.

How Do You Manage Risks?

COSHH risks need to be managed carefully to protect workers and others from harm. There are a number of ways to do this, including identifying and controlling potential hazards, providing information and training to employees, and carrying out regular risk assessments. By taking these precautions, you can help to ensure a safe working environment for everyone.

What is a Risk Checklist?

A COSHH risk checklist is a tool used to complete a risk assessment for hazardous materials. The checklist helps identify potential hazards and the risks associated with them. It also helps identify control measures that can be put in place to mitigate those risks.

Tags:

#coshh#risk-assessment#workplace-safety#compliance#hazardous-substances
Luke Halliwell
About Luke Halliwell

Implementation Manager

Luke leads Sevron's Customer Happiness team, guiding clients through onboarding and training on the Safety365 platform. With over 9 years at Sevron and an IOSH Managing Safety certification, Luke specialises in helping businesses get the most out of their safety management systems. He's passionate about making compliance straightforward and accessible for teams of all sizes.

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