When do you need to carry out a COSHH risk assessment?
Guaranteeing your employees’ health and safety while they perform their jobs is your legal obligation as an employer. A few of the UK laws that control employee safety are the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
One of the most important things you can do to safeguard your employees when they are working with hazardous materials is to conduct a risk assessment.
What is a COSHH risk assessment?
An in-depth analysis of the potential risks posed by hazardous substances in the workplace is the focus of COSHH. It entails locating and evaluating possible health risks to workers and anyone else who might be impacted by the hazardous substance. The assessment should identify the preventative steps that must be taken to lessen or eliminate the risks.
What circumstances call for COSHH?
You are required by the COSHH Regulations to conduct a risk assessment whenever one of your employees handles a potentially dangerous substance. Chemicals, fumes, dust, vapours, nanotechnology, biological agents, pathogenic bacteria, dermatitis and asthma-causing substances are just a few examples of these dangerous substances. You are required to conduct a COSHH risk assessment if your employees are exposed to any of these substances.
What should a risk assessment of COSHH include?
- Identifying the substances that may be hazardous
- Identifying the hazards associated with those substances
- Evaluating the risks that those substances pose to the health of workers and anyone else who may be affected
- Identifying control measures that need to be put in place to reduce or eliminate the risks
- Ensuring that the control measures are implemented and maintained
- Ensuring that the control measures are effective in controlling the risks
- Providing information, instruction and training to workers
- Carrying out health surveillance where appropriate
- How often do you need to carry out a COSHH risk assessment?
A COSHH risk assessment should be carried out before any work with hazardous substances commences. This assessment should be reviewed regularly, at least annually, or when there are significant changes to the substances being used or the work being carried out. This review should consider any changes to the work, the substance, the controls or the exposure, and evaluate whether the current control measures are still effective.
To learn more about COSHH risk assessments, and how Ardent Safety can help you keep your workplace safe, visit our Consultancy and Training services page.
