COSHH Risk Assessments and Data Sheets – What You Need to Know

This post is part of the “Focus on Health and Safety Audit Questions” series. A series which focuses on questions asked by our health and safety consultants when conducting a health and safety audit.

i. Check that COSHH risk assessments have been carried out & kept under review. Auditor to check chemicals being used by department e.g. Housekeeping/maintenance.

ii. Check that COSHH safety data sheets are available, and there is an inventory of chemicals used.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) is the law that requires employers to control substances that are hazardous to health.

Red: No documentation
Amber: Some documentation available / documentation Out of Date
Green: Documentation available and up to date

• No COSHH risk assessment and data safety sheets found

• COSHH risk assessment and data safety sheets missing

• COSHH data safety sheets out of date

• Reliance on contractors for COSHH documentation with no information available

• Lack of documented roles and responsibilities in regards to COSHH

40% of businesses failed this question based on our sample data.

What is a hazardous substance?

A hazardous substance is anything that could cause harm to a person by having an effect on their health.

How can substances cause harm?

Substances gain entry into the body through:

• breathing it in,

• swallowing it,

• through injection, or

• through it being absorbed directly through the skin.

The harm could be instant,

For example

A strong acid causing a chemical burn as soon as it is spilt onto skin,

Or it could be delayed,

For example

By a person developing breathing problems many years after first starting to breathe in a chemical fume at work.

It can include any of the following:

Chemicals labelled as hazardous; e.g. corrosive, irritant, harmful, toxic or very toxic.

Dusts, gases and fumes.

Micro-organisms that can cause harmful infections such as bacteria and viruses.

For example

By a person developing breathing problems many years after first starting to breathe in a chemical fume at work.

Examples of potentially hazardous substances in your location:

Substances are usually in the workplace because they are needed, e.g. a chemical cleaner. They could also be brought in by contractors.

Where some harmful infections might be brought into the location by consumers, by discarding injection needles.

Chemicals and hazardous substances policy

It is the organisation’s intention to reduce the amounts of hazardous chemicals used so far as is reasonably practicable and replace with non-hazardous products when available.

The company will decide on what supplier will be used and what chemicals will be provided to locations.

The chemicals in use and the review of any new products will be reviewed and purchased as required i.e. new piece of equipment or change of process. This list will also be reviewed if there is a change of supplier.

Each location is issued with a folder from the supplier containing the manufacturer’s safety data sheets (MSDS) and a list of what chemicals are provided.