Are You COSHH Compliant?

What is COSHH?

COSHH is the law that requires employers to control substances that are hazardous to the health of their employees. You can prevent or reduce your employees and workers exposure to hazardous substances by:

► finding out what the health hazards are

► deciding how to avoid harm to health (risk assessment)

► providing control measures to reduce harm to health

► making sure they are used

► keeping all control measures in good working order

► providing information, instruction and training for employees and others

► providing monitoring and health surveillance in appropriate cases

► planning for emergencies.

Most businesses use substances or products that are mixtures of substances. These could cause harm to employees and other people.

Taking The Appropriate Steps

Let’s assume for a moment that you have successfully carried out a COSHH risk assessment, and the hazards have been identified. You will need to determine what steps should be taken to eliminate such dangers.

► Elimination:Can you redesign the process, so the hazard is removed?

► Substitution:can you find a low-risk alternative?

► Engineering controls:can you find an engineered solution to protect staff?

► Administrative management:can signage, education, training, or job rotation reduce the risk?

► PPE:as a last resort, can you provide suitable protective equipment to stop the threat impacting the user?

Prepare for Accidents and Emergencies

While the COSHH compliance aims to prevent accidents from occurring, you will need a plan to deal with foreseeable accidents and emergencies. This will include the right equipment, procedures, and people on-site to deal with emergencies such as spills of hazardous substances. When dangerous substances are spilt, this will require arrangements to deal with any waste created to prevent this from causing any further accidents.

Why Are the COSHH Regulations Important?

Last year alone, 1.4 million workers in the UK suffered from work-related ill-health. Many injuries and medical conditions were caused by exposure to dangerous substances.

COSHH aims to keep employees out of harm’s way and reduce the number of work-related injuries and health conditions across the UK. If you employ anyone who might come into contact with hazardous substances, it’s essential you fully understand the COSHH regulations and how your business can comply with them.

Most of the COSHH requirements and responsibilities fall on employers. However, employees can share some responsibility by ensuring they follow health and safety procedures and implement COSHH control measures.

At integratedAIR, our team will be happy to answer your questions about COSHH or assist you with compliance for dust control in the workplace