Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 - COSHH

What is COSHH?

COSHH is a set of UK regulations - The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 - which imposes general requirements on an employer to protect employees and other persons from the hazards posed by substances used in the workplace. COSHH focuses on ensuring the safe use, storage, handling, and disposal of these substances.

What are considered Hazardous Substances under COSHH?

Hazardous substances include:
- Substances used directly in a work activity e.g. paint, cleaning agents
- Substances generated during a work activity e.g. fumes from welding, dust from grinding, etc
- Biological agents such as bacteria and other micro-organisms

COSHH applies to virtually all substances hazardous to health except:
- Asbestos and lead which have their own regulations
- Substances which are hazardous only because they are: radioactive;
  at high pressure; at extreme temperatures; or have explosive or
  flammable properties (other regulations apply to these risks - see our page on flash point of liquids as an example)
- Biological agents that are outside the employer's control e.g. catching
  an infection from a work colleague

COSHH Requirements

Setting up a COSHH policy for your business is relatively straight forward. The following 8 steps summarise COSHH compliance:
- Assess the risks to health arising from hazardous substances used
  in or created by the work in hand, in other words, carry out a COSHH assessment
- Decide what precautions are needed
- Prevent or adequately control exposure. Prevention is preferable to
  control
- Ensure that control measures are used and maintained properly and
  that safety procedures are followed
- Monitor the exposure to the hazardous substances, if necessary
- Carry out appropriate health surveillance where the assessment has
  shown that it is necessary or where COSHH sets specific requirements
- Prepare plans and procedures to deal with accidents, incidents and
  emergencies involving the hazardous substances identified in step 1
- Ensure employees are properly informed, trained and supervised

COSHH Labeling

For the vast majority of commercial chemicals, the presence (or not) of a warning label and a COSHH symbol will indicate whether COSHH is relevant, and a workplace COSHH assessment is required.
For example, there is no warning label on ordinary household washing-up liquid, so if it is used at work there is no need to go through the COSHH assessment process. However there is a warning label on a bottle of household bleach, therefore it is reasonable to assume that bleach is covered by COSHH and the COSHH regs do apply to its use in the workplace.

COSHH Symbols

A set of nine COSHH symbols (sometimes referred to as the COSHH Hazard Pictograms) have been developed to alert users to the preence of a hazardous chemical, that is a chemical that may cause harm to people or the environment One or more COSHH symbols might appear on the labelling of a single chemical.

What do the COSHH Symbols Mean?

The meaning of the 9 COSHH Hazard Symbols is explained below:

COSHH Explosive Symbol This symbol represents chemicals, substances or any workplace occurrence that may cause an explosion.	COSHH Flammable Symbol This hazard symbol highlights flammable chemicals or substances that can ignite.	COSHH Oxidising Symbol This symbol represents chemicals that can have a dangerous reaction with other chemicals. It could also mean anything that acts as an oxidiser, which could increase the intensity of a fire.
COSHH Corrosive Symbol This symbol warns against chemicals that may cause damage on contact.	COSHH Toxic Symbol This symbol represents chemicals that can cause a lot of damage in small quantities such as when inhaled, swallowed or in contact with skin.	COSHH Environmental Symbol This symbol represents the risk of substances that can cause serious damage to the environment.
COSHH Irritant Symbol This is a general COSHH hazard symbol that indicates that there are substances dangerous to health present and they may cause irritation, dizziness, or allergic reactions.	COSHH Human Health Symbol This symbol represents serious long-term threats to health, such as if a hazard can lead to death if swallowed, affect fertility or lead to cancer.	COSHH Gas Bottles Symbol This symbol represents a situation where gas is under pressure and may explode if heated, or lead to cryogenic injuries when refrigerated.

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