CoSHH Guide
Posted on February 1st 2023 by Paul Ellis - Marketing & Business Development Manager.
What is CoSHH?
When in the workplace employers and employees are required by law to control substances that are hazardous to health. The CoSHH Regulations 2002 – (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) were put into place to prevent the exposure of harmful hazardous substances to workers.
Most businesses today use substances within the workplace that could potentially be harmful to employees. Therefore the correct storage of hazardous substances is a must to comply with the law.
Our CoSHH guide will help you understand the regulations and how our products can support your workplace.
The 8 Steps of CoSHH
COSHH is a set of regulations put in place to protect workers from ill-health when working with specific substances and materials.
Risk Assessment
A risk assessment should identify any hazardous substances that may be present in your workplace. It should highlight the risks to health and who could be exposed to the substances, when and how often.
Precautions
If risks have been identified your workplace should identify which precautions are needed to remove the risks to protect employees. If adequate action cannot be taken to eliminate the hazard you should try to control exposure as much as possible.
Prevent & Control Exposure
If the risk cannot be eliminated then measures should be put into place to protect employees from the risks identified in your assessment. You may need to think about systems, processing or controls that could be used to minimise the amount of hazardous materials used or produced.
Maintenance of control measures
CoSHH requires that you need to maintain exposure control. This will ensure that every part of the control measure continues to be met as when they were initially introduced. Regularly check your procedures and equipment and ensure staff are trained on the measures.
Monitor exposure
Under CoSHH regulations you must measure the concentration of hazardous substances in the air that could affect your staff. This could happen if:
1) Control measures may have failed and there is a serious risk to health.
2) Exposure limits may be surpassed.
Health Surveillance
CoSHH requires health surveillance to be carried out in the following circumstances:
1) If an employee is exposed to a substance that is listed in medical surveillance schedule 6.
2) If an employee is exposed to a substance linked to a disease, and it’s possible that disease could occur because of work conditions.
Procedures for accidents and emergencies
Should the worst happen you should have plans in place to deal with any emergency incidents. Make sure everyone is aware of these procedures and has access to information. It is recommended that you practice safety drills at regular intervals.
Training for staff
It is your responsibility to ensure that all staff have full training on all processes and understand all instructions. They should have a good understanding of the substances they will handle and the risks and precautions they should be taking to stay safe in the workplace.
Click the link below to find out more about CoSHH and regulations.
How can QMP help your business comply with CoSHH?
All stored chemicals must now feature chemical hazard labels. Here at QMP, we manufacture an extensive range of chemical storage solutions.
Use the graphic below to find out which hazardous storage cabinet is right for storing your chemicals and click the links to view our products.
Further Reading
How to store chemicals in the workplace
CoSHH Cupboards
from QMP
6 Simple Steps
to Safety
