What is a ‘substance hazardous to health'?

What is COSHH?

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

-- finding out what the health hazards are;
-- deciding how to prevent 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. Some processes create substances. These could cause harm to employees, contractors and other people.

Sometimes substances are easily recognised as harmful. Common substances such as paint, bleach or dust from natural materials may also be harmful.

What is a ‘substance hazardous to health'?

COSHH covers substances

that are hazardous to health. Substances can take many forms and include:
-- chemicals
-- products containing chemicals
-- fumes
-- dusts
-- vapours
-- mists
-- nanotechnology
-- gases and asphyxiating gases and
-- biological agents (germs). If the packaging has any of the hazard symbols then it is classed as a hazardous substance.
-- germs that cause diseases such as leptospirosis or legionnaires disease and germs used in laboratories.

COSHH does not cover

-- lead,
-- asbestos or
-- radioactive substances
-- because these have their own specific regulations.

I'm self-employed. Does this apply to me?

Yes. If you have employees (you control their work), every part of COSHH applies. If you have no employees (but you take hazardous substances to other peoples premises), all parts of COSHH regulations apply except those about monitoring and health surveillance.

What you need to do

Before you start your COSHH assessment, you need to:
-- Think about
-- What do you do that involves hazardous substances?
-- How can these cause harm?
-- How can you reduce the risk of harm occurring?

Always try to prevent exposure at source. For example:

-- Can you avoid using a hazardous substance or use a safer process – preventing exposure, eg using water-based rather than solvent-based products, applying by brush rather than spraying?
-- Can you substitute it for something safer – eg swap an irritant cleaning product for something milder, or using a vacuum cleaner rather than a brush?
-- Can you use a safer form, eg can you use a solid rather than liquid to avoid splashes or a waxy solid instead of a dry powder to avoid dust?

Check your trade press and talk to employees. At trade meetings, ask others in your industry for ideas. If you can't prevent exposure, you need to control it adequately by applying the principles of good control practice.

Control is adequate when the risk of harm is ‘as low as is reasonably practicable'.This means:

-- All control measures are in good working order.
-- Exposures are below the Workplace Exposure Limit, where one exists.
-- Exposure to substances that cause cancer, asthma or genetic damage is reduced to as low a level as possible.

Identifying hazard and assessing risk

You are probably already aware of many risks in your trade or industry. A COSHH assessment concentrates on the hazards and risks from substances in your workplace.

Remember that hazards and risks are not limited to substances labelled as ‘hazardous’.

Steps to making a COSHH assessment:

1. Walk around your workplace. Where is there potential for exposure to substances that might be hazardous to health?
--------Examples include processes that emit dust, fume, vapour, mist or gas; and skin contact with liquids, pastes and dusts. Substances with workplace exposure limits (WELs) are hazardous to health.

2. In what way are the substances harmful to health?
--------Get safety data sheets, and read your trade magazines. Some substances arise from processes and have no safety data sheet. Examples include fume from welding or soldering, mist from metalworking, dust from quarrying, gases from silage. Look at the HSE web pages for your trade or industry - Your Industry.

3. What jobs or tasks lead to exposure?
--------Note these down. Note down what control measures you already use. For these jobs, how likely is any harm to workers' health?

4. Are there any areas of concern, eg from the Accident Book?
--------Examples include burns from splashes, nausea or lightheadedness from solvents, etc

Exposure limits

Exposure to a substance is uptake into the body. The exposure routes are:
-- By breathing fume, dust, gas or mist.
-- By skin contact.
-- By injection into the skin.
-- By swallowing.

Safety data sheets

Safety data sheets provide information on chemical products that help users of those chemicals to make a risk assessment. They describe the hazards the chemical presents, and give information on handling, storage and emergency measures in case of accident. Safety data sheet information may lead to guidance appropriate for your task. COSHH essentials is a web tool that advises employers on good control practice.

A safety data sheet is not a risk assessment. You should use the information it contains to help make your own assessment.As well as receiving chemicals you may supply them to others. If you do, you must pass on information (as safety data sheets) to those whom you supply.

Control measures

The objective of COSHH is to prevent, or to adequately control, exposure to substances hazardous to health, so as to prevent ill health.

You can do this by:
-- using control equipment, eg total enclosure, partial enclosure, LEV;
-- controlling procedures, eg ways of working, supervision and training to reduce exposure, maintenance, examination and testing of control measures;
-- worker behaviour, making sure employees follow the control measures.

Changing how often a task is undertaken, or when, or reducing the number of employees nearby, can make an improvement to exposure control.

Personal protective equipment

Employers are responsible for providing, replacing and paying for personal protective equipment. PPE should be used when all other measures are inadequate to control exposure. It protects only the wearer, while being worn. If it fails, PPE offers no protection at all.When employees find PPE comfortable they are far more likely to wear it.

Monitoring

Monitoring means measuring to show that control is adequate. It has nothing to do with the state of a worker's health.
-- when you need to show compliance with a WEL (Workplace Exposure Limit) or BMGV ( Biological Monitoring Guidance Value)
-- when you need to show that control equipment or personal protective equipment is working well enough

Health surveillance

Health surveillance is any activity which involves obtaining information about employees' health and which helps protect employees from health risks at work.

Training

Provide information, training and instruction for employees who work with substances hazardous to health. This includes cleaning and maintenance staff.

Emergencies

You need to plan and practice to cope with foreseeable accidents, incidents or emergencies. Think about how you would make such information available to the emergency services.Everybody needs to know your emergency plans. Involve safety representatives and employees.