Information regarding the Control of Substances that are Hazardous to Health.

1. Control of Substances
Hazardous to Health

2. What is a hazardous
substance under COSHH?
 Substances/mixtures classified as
dangerous to health under CHIP
 Substances with OELs
 Biological agents
 Any kind of dust in a concentration
specified in COSHH
 Any other substance which has
comparable hazards, but which for
technical reasons may not be covered
by CHIP

3. What is not a hazardous
substance under COSHH?
 Asbestos & lead (own regulations)
 Substances hazardous only because they
are:
 Radioactive;Simple asphyxiants;At high
pressure;At extreme temperatures; or Explosive or
flammable (own regulations)
 Biological agents not connected with work
e.g. catching cold
 Normally, the presence of a label (or not) will
indicate whether COSHH is relevant

4. Risk Assessment
 Identify the hazardous substances in
the workplace
 Decide who is at risk and how
 Evaluate the risk – are further controls
necessary?
 Record the findings
 Review & revise when necessary

5. Prevention/Control of
Exposure
 Eliminate
 Substitute
 Engineering Controls
 Isolation
 Enclosure
 Ventilation (including LEV)
 Change work methods
 Reduce time exposure
 PPE
 Housekeeping
 Instruction, Information, Training

6. Use of Control Measures
 Employees should make proper use of
controls and report defects
 They must be trained in how to do so

7. Maintenance of Controls
 Keep in efficient working order and
good repair
 Engineering controls & RPE examined
and tested at regular intervals
 LEV – 14 months
 Retain records for 5 years

8. Monitoring Exposure
 Measure concentrations where
assessment concludes that:
 Serious risks if controls fail;
 Exposure limits may be exceeded;
 Control measures may not be working
properly
 Employees are exposed to certain
substances/process in Schedule 5
 Records should be kept for 5 years

9. Health Surveillance
 Health surveillance in the following
circumstances:
 Employees significantly exposed to process in
Schedule 6
 Employees exposed to substance linked to
particular disease or adverse health effect and
reasonable likelihood of disease/effect occurring
and possible to detect disease/effect
 May be by professional, trained supervisor or
self-check
 Records kept for 40 years

10. Information, Instruction &
Training
 About:
 Nature of substances and associated risks
 Precautions staff should take
 Control measures – purpose and how to use
them
 How to use PPE & clothing
 Results of monitoring and health surveillance
(without giving names)
 Emergency procedures
 Controls will not be effective if staff do not
know how to use them properly, or the
importance of reporting faults

11. Defence
“In any proceedings for an offence
consisting of a contravention of these
Regulations it shall be a defence for any
person to prove that he took all
reasonable precautions and exercised
all due diligence to avoid the
commission of that offence”