CoSHH Advice and Assessments
A COSHH assessment concentrates on the hazards and risks from hazardous substances in your workplace.
Remember that health hazards are not limited to substances labelled as 'hazardous'. Some harmful substances can be produced by the process you use, eg wood dust from sanding, or silica dust from tile cutting.
Identify the Hazards
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Identify which substances are harmful by reading the product labels and safety data sheets (SDS)
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If you are in doubt, contact LESH
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Remember to think about harmful substances produced by your processes, such as cutting or grinding, or to which workers may be otherwise exposed
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Consider the routes of entry to workers bodies
Decide who might be harmed
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How might workers be exposed? Think about the route into the body (whether the substance can be breathed in, get onto or through the skin or can even be swallowed) and the effects of exposure by each of these routes
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Think of how often people work with the substance and for how long
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Think about anyone else who could be exposed
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Don't forget maintenance workers, contractors and other visitors or members of the public who could be exposed
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Also think about people who could be exposed accidentally, eg while cleaning, or what happens if controls fail
Evaluate the risks
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Once you have carried out a risk assessment and identified which harmful substances are present, and how workers can be harmed, you need to think about preventing exposure.
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Do you really need to use a particular substance, or is a safer alternative available?
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Can you change the process to eliminate its use or avoid producing it? If this is not possible, you must put in place adequate control measures to reduce exposure
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Compare any air monitoring results against the HSE’s EH40 document which will tell you the exposure limits of substances
