The COSHH hazards your business should know

Guest Post by Kevin Rowe, Managing Director of SafetyBuyer.com

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations governs occupational health and safety associated with hazardous substances. However, it is not often clear who is legally responsible for implementing COSHH into work activities and monitoring a business’s compliance on a regular basis. Ultimately, the responsibility of implementing COSHH will fall on the employer, but employees also have a duty to understand and follow COSHH regulations. 

It is vital that everyone in an organisation understands their COSHH roles and duties in order to meet COSHH compliance. Below, we look at the dangerous substances covered by COSHH that you may find at your workplace, how to identify risks associated with hazardous substances, as well as the three main control methods that every organisation should be aware of.

What are the seven hazardous substances?

COSHH laws oversee the following hazardous substance categories:

●      Chemicals (and products containing chemicals)

●      Fumes

●      Dust

●      Vapours

●      Mists

●      Gases

●      Germs

To indicate that a substance is hazardous, there are nine hazard symbols used for COSHH labelling. These include:

●      Explosives

●      Gases

●      Flammable liquids

●      Flammable solids

●      Oxidising agents and organic peroxides

●      Toxins and infectious substances

●      Radioactive material

●      Corrosives

●      Miscellaneous dangerous goods

Who is legally liable for workplace COSHH?

It is the employer's responsibility to implement and maintain COSHH compliance in the workplace. They must guarantee that all work methods and storage solutions meet COSHH standards.

The employer must also guarantee that all personnel know COSHH rules and have the knowledge and ability to follow them. If an employee causes an accident because they were unaware of the hazards of a hazardous material, the business may still be held accountable if it is proven that the employee was inadequately trained or prepared for the risks posed by the hazardous substance. As such, it is critical that the dangers and relevant control measures be well-communicated and understood by all staff on-premises.

The three COSHH control measures every employer should know

The individual in charge of implementing and maintaining COSHH laws in the workplace must achieve three important compliance criteria.

Control devices

Hazardous substances must be handled, stored, and used with a number of control procedures, depending on the substance or activity. Using COSHH-compliant equipment ensures that the relevant requirements are met.

The COSHH control methods for hazardous substances help determine how they should be handled and stored in order to limit the chance of spills or other incidents, protect employees from injury, and reduce the risk of harmful exposure.

Working methods

The COSHH control procedures specify how employees should handle hazardous substances during their daily tasks. All operations, monitoring, and training must meet the expected safety standards set by COSHH. Employers are legally required to protect their employees' health, but employees must also use their training and use caution while handling potentially dangerous chemicals.

Employee behaviour in the workplace

Once the control measures and processes are in place, those on-site must adhere to them. Furthermore, the individual(s) responsible for workplace safety must regularly check that the control measures are processes are appropriate for the activities and substances the business is using. Whenever a new hazardous substance is introduced into work activities, the employer must review current safety practices to ensure they mitigate the risks posed by this new substance.

Identifying COSHH hazards

The first step towards managing your company’s health and safety standards is being able to identify hazardous substances. It is worth taking a look at the various substances you may come across in your workplace (chemicals, including cleaning supplies) and deciding if they pose a potential threat based on any warning symbols or labels on their packaging — this will help you decide whether further action needs to be taken to secure them against accidents.

Assessing risk

Once you have identified that something poses a possible hazard then you must assess how severe this hazard might be. This assessment should take into account factors such as how long people are exposed to the substance, who is likely going to be affected by it and what sort of protective clothing or equipment might be required for safety. Having all this information can help you decide on the next steps in order to protect employees from coming into contact with these substances.

Investigate health effects

As well as considering potential exposure levels, you also need to look into the effects these substances could have on health — this will help you determine the severity and nature of any risks associated with them. Research any substances mentioned in product labels or instructions in order to gain a better understanding of their toxicity levels, storage instructions, and other handling precautions.

Controlling risks

Once you have assessed the level of risk involved with certain substances within your workplace, it is time for action. There are several ways for controlling these risks including using suitable ventilation systems, providing protective equipment like masks or covering skin with suitable clothing, instituting general hygiene rules like hand-washing after use, providing information and training on safe handling procedures and so on. All of these options (or some combination of them) can help create a much safer working environment around hazardous substances.

A workplace must always meet the highest standards of control measures, which are made possible by using COSHH-compliant storage, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) when appropriate, and designing and adhering to protocols that notify supervisors in the case of an emergency.

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