Guide to COSHH
COSHH 2004 (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) Regulations
The COSHH Regulations require employers to manage the risk to staff and others who may be exposed to hazardous substances in the workplace.
CoSHH Regulations
There are a wide range of issues that employers are required to address. Without specialist advice it is very difficult to know where to start.
Helping you to understand COSHH
Simplicity is the key to introducing and maintaining a COSHH system and clarity is the key to effective guidance. Bibby Consulting & Support systems are designed to assist your business to comply with its legal obligations by providing a framework for compliance to help ensure that you keep your workforce safe.
We provide the COSHH documentation and training to help you ensure that suitable COSHH assessments are carried out in order to protect your employees and others from the risks from hazardous substances and that in the event of an investigation, or just a routine visit by the Local Authority or the HSE, you can prove that you have honoured your legal obligations and in honouring your legal obligations a good place to start is by firstly undertaking a fresh inventory of all the hazardous chemicals that you store and/or keep on your site.
You may find some items are not used much at all; you may find two products are being used for the same reason or purpose. So a fresh inventory is a good way to obtain an updated view of exactly what products you need instead of what products you have ended up with being stored on your premises.
Once your inventory is complete, the next stage is to ascertain what products have actually got an MSDS sheet. The MSDS, or Material Safety Data Sheet, needs to cover the current version of the product and there is a legal duty on the Manufacturer or Supplier to provide you with one. Sometimes, the companies providing these are quite large and often the data sheets can be obtained from the Manufacturer's website and simply downloaded.
The reason you need to obtain these is that all the chemical information you require to complete a COSHH Assessment is contained on the data sheets themselves. You will find a current data sheet covers 16 areas of information (as required by European Law) and will provide specific information on a variety of areas, such as :
- What to do in the event of a spillage;
- What to do in the event of first aid treatment being required;
- What to do in the event of skin contact;
- The appropriate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to be used when handling the chemical;
- The above list is not exhaustive, but gives an idea of the areas covered on the Data Sheets.
The above questions and subsequent answers will very much depend on the chemicals you are using, but it is essential that you, as an Employer, (or Management) go through this exercise to fully understand and complete a COSHH Assessment.
Another important factor is that once you have fully understood the hazards of the chemicals you are using, that information needs to be communicated to the relevant employees who you require to use the chemical as part of their tasks/activities – so training will play a big part and will include how to use the chemicals, what to do in the event of spillage, the PPE that must be provided and used etc.
In many cases of spillages, the simple use of dry sand or absorbent material will contain the spillage - don’t forget to place warning signs around the spillage until fully absorbed and removed. If you are using particularly hazardous chemicals and in large quantities, the use of spill kits (with appropriate training) may be best to contain the spillage and/or even storing chemicals in/on a bunded area to prevent contamination of water courses via drains etc.
In many cases of spillages, the simple use of dry sand or absorbent material will contain the spillage - don’t forget to place warning signs around the spillage until fully absorbed and removed. If you are using particularly hazardous chemicals and in large quantities, the use of spill kits (with appropriate training) may be best to contain the spillage and/or even storing chemicals in/on a bunded area to prevent contamination of water courses via drains etc.
Total peace of mind
When you outsource to Bibby Consulting & Support, we will deliver a bespoke management system and installation programme designed to achieve best practice; not only with COSHH, but also within other areas of Health & Safety management.
For more information, visit: www.bibbycas.com or alternatively call us on: 08453 100 600 for a no obligation review of your current systems.
