COSHH
Most COSHH files are a folder of safety data sheets. A data sheet describes the substance; an assessment describes what you do with it, which is the part that is being asked about.
What the law requires
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 require employers not to carry out work liable to expose employees to substances hazardous to health unless a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk has been made and the steps needed to meet the Regulations identified. Exposure must be prevented or, where that is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled. Control measures must be maintained, examined and tested; where the assessment shows it is necessary, exposure must be monitored and health surveillance provided.
Legislation referred to on this page: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. Named so you can read the source. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and whether a duty applies to your organisation is a question for you and your adviser.
Who it applies to
- Any employer whose work exposes people to hazardous substances — including cleaning chemicals, dusts, fumes and biological agents, not only obviously industrial ones.
- Substances generated by the work count, which is how wood dust and welding fume get missed.
- Local exhaust ventilation requires thorough examination and testing, usually at intervals not exceeding fourteen months.
What you have to be able to show
The list an inspector, insurer or auditor actually works through.
- An assessment per substance or task, describing the actual work.
- Current safety data sheets, matched to what is genuinely on site.
- Evidence the control measures are in place and maintained.
- LEV examination and test records where extraction is relied on.
- Training for the people using the substances, and health surveillance where required.
How DutyHub records it
DutyHub does not carry out any of the work below. It records who did, when, and what they found.
Assessment per substance, held against the premises
The inventory is a register in its own right, so a substance arriving on site without an assessment is a visible gap.
LEV testing as an expiring certificate
Examination and test records carry an expiry and are chased like any other certificate.
Training and surveillance tracked together
Both hang off the person and the substance, which is the only way to answer "who is exposed and are they covered".
Start with what applies to you
Add your premises and answer a short set of questions about them. DutyHub works out which duties land on which building, and shows you the gaps before anybody else finds them.
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