Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations

This Regulation is a statutory requirement relating to the protection of employees and nonemployees health with respect to workplace activities or operations that involve substances. These regulations are concerned with the toxic effects of substances, not fire risks or explosion etc, as these are covered by other regulations. Failure to comply constitutes a criminal offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Substances hazardous to health can be defined as anything that is a biological agent, labelled as being hazardous to health (i.e. under the CHIP Regulations), included in the list of Exposure Limits, a substantial quantity of dust, anything else which can be hazardous to health.

To comply with COSHH you need to follow these eight steps.

• STEP 1: Assessment
  • Legally no work can take place unless a risk assessment has been made.
  • It should cover all relevant substances, processes and the risks involved.
  • It should consider people who could come into contact with the substance.
  • It should be carried out by a competent person and findings recorded.
  • It must specify steps necessary to achieve and maintain adequate control.
• STEP 2: Precautions
  • Decide on the necessary action to remove or reduce risks to acceptable levels.
  • The assessment of a workplace must be reviewed if there are changes in the work or if monitoring shows it to be necessary.
• STEP 3: Control
  • The main requirement is to prevent exposure occurring, if this is not reasonably practical then exposure must be adequately controlled.
  • PPE can be used but only if the risk could not be controlled by engineering or administrative controls.
• STEP 4: Maintain Control Measures
  • Employers should make sure control measures are in place and maintained.
  • Employees should use the control means in place and should report any defects.
• STEP 5: Monitor Exposure
  • In certain circumstances exposure monitoring is required especially where the failure of a control measure could result in a serious risk.
  • Checks must be made to monitor that control measures are working properly.
• STEP 6: Health Surveillance
  • Health surveillance is required in certain specified processes.
  • Ranging from simple skin inspections to detailed monitoring of blood samples.
  • Records should be kept for at least 40 years.
• STEP 7: Accident Procedures
  • You must plan and practice your response to an accident involving hazardous substances before it takes place.
  • Information on emergency procedures must be readily available to those who may need it in the event of an accident.
• STEP 8: Education and Training
  • Employees must be informed about the risk arising from their work. And;
  • The precautions that have to be taken, PPE to be worn and emergency procedures etc.
  • Employees must all be given the results of any monitoring and health surveillance.

There are also European regulations regarding transport of dangerous goods. Legislation such as the IMDG (International ADR (European Agreement Concerning Maritime Dangerous Goods code), the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road) uses the principles of 'Transport of Dangerous Goods - Model Regulations (Orange Book) 'as the framework for domestic law.

The 'Orange Book' is produced by the United Nations and is an attempt to harmonise the worldwide regulations regarding the transport of dangerous goods.