How To Complete The COSHH Assessment Form

Most businesses use or create hazardous substances in one form or another. Dust from drilling, mixing paints, fumes from exhausts, fuel, chemicals, ink for your printer, biological hazards, etc.

All hazardous substances come under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH Regulations).

You don't need to use toxic chemicals to need to know about COSHH. Even using off-the-shelf cleaning products can trigger COSHH requirements, like writing a COSHH assessment.

Carrying out a COSHH assessment is a legal requirement under COSHH. But if you've never done a COSHH assessment before, it might seem daunting.

When do you need a COSHH assessment? And how do you write one?

There are several steps to completing a COSHH assessment form. And we will go through each stage in this guide. You should follow these in order, as each step leads to the next.

To follow along with this guide, you can use the free blank COSHH assessment template or create your own.

Identify Hazardous Substances

Your first step should be to identify hazardous substances used or produced within your business activities. These are the substances you need to control under the COSHH regulations.

Whenever you could expose any employees to hazardous substances, you need to do a COSHH assessment.

6.—(1) An employer shall not carry out work which is liable to expose any employees to any substance hazardous to health unless he has—

1. made a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk created by that work to the health of those employees and of the steps that need to be taken to meet the requirements of these Regulations; and
2. implemented the steps referred to in sub-paragraph (a).

Identifying where you use or create hazardous substances highlights the tasks you should be assessing.

But how do you identify hazardous substances?

Often substances are supplied to you, so an easy way to start is to look at the chemicals, liquids and solutions you buy. Check for COSHH hazard symbols and workplace exposure limits (WELs).

The COSHH regulations also apply to substances you create during your work, like dust, fumes and gases. And if you mix substances together, you need to assess the combined risk as part of your COSHH assessment. So also look at your processes. What materials do you alter? What mixtures do you create?

• Identify the hazardous substances you purchase
• Identify the hazardous substances you produce
• Create a COSHH register to help you keep track of them

Here are some more details of the types of substances covered by COSHH and how to identify them.

Gather Information

Once you have identified the hazardous substance(s) you need to assess, you can gather safety information for them.

If you purchase the product, you can request a copy of the safety data sheet. Usually, material safety data sheets (MSDS) are provided by your supplier. You can also often download them from the manufacturer's website.

If you can't find a sheet for your substance, request a copy from your supplier.

The MSDS is a valuable source of health and safety information. The safety data sheet contains details of the known hazards and classifications of the material or substance and covers safe handling procedures, storage information, and advice. Much of this information can help in developing your COSHH assessment.

The safety data sheet shouldn't replace your COSHH assessment, but instead, be used alongside it. The safety data sheet is generic advice for the substance. Your COSHH assessment will cover the specific risks your workers are exposed to in your particular use of the substance at work.

Header Section

Now you know what hazardous substance you are using or producing, and have information about it, you can finally start completing the COSHH assessment form.

The first two steps (identifying hazardous substances and gathering information) might seem to make things take a little longer, but having this information to hand before you start your COSHH assessment will speed up the next stages.

So let's start by completing the header section.

This section tells people which substance you are assessing and what you use it for (the activity or task).

In the header section of the assessment, you should record the hazardous substance(s) used or produced, for example, cement. Also include what you use it for (e.g. mixing mortar) and the duration of use (e.g. 1 hour per day).

Substance:	Cement	Date:	7th Jan 2019
Task:	Mixing of mortar, concrete etc
Duration:	2 hours	Reference:	COSHH001

Risk Identification

In the next section, you should outline the main risks people are exposed to when they use or come into contact with the substance. Don't forget to consider other people who might be at risk, not just those carrying out the task, for example, adjacent workers and the public.

Your assessment needs to consider the risk to anyone who could come into contact with the substance.

What are the hazards presented by the substance? Is it an irritant? Is it corrosive? Is it flammable? How might people be exposed? How could they be harmed?

This information is often found on the safety data sheet for the substance or industry guidance. For example, wood dust harms people when they inhale it, and wet cement can harm people on skin contact.

Is the risk to users high, medium, or low for each hazard, and is there any extra information or comments you want to add?

Once you know who might be harmed and how, you can start to think about the controls needed. Control measures could include substitution, ventilation, extraction, and what PPE is required to protect users.

Classification

If the substance has a classification symbol assigned to it, make sure you include that on your COSHH assessment. You can find this out from the packaging or on the safety data sheet.

For example, if a substance is explosive or toxic, it will have a symbol. This visual information will help people using the substance quickly identify the risk.

Find out more about COSHH chemical hazard symbols and their meanings.

Control Measures

Control measures are the steps you take to control the hazards presented by the substance. You could remove the risk by eliminating the substance, or reduce the risk by substituting it for a low-hazard alternative.

More often, your controls will be putting actions, procedures and safety equipment in place to protect users of the substance and others who may get exposed.

Find out more about the types of COSHH control measures and the hierarchy of risk control.

In the controls section, you should look at what you are already doing to protect your workforce. Then assess what extra control measures could improve safety.

For example, when cutting paving slabs, you might already use water for dust suppression and dust masks to protect from the health risks of breathing in silica dust. You could also provide goggles to protect eyes and P3 respirators to give better respiratory protection.

Legally, you must reduce the risks associated with exposure to the substance as low as is reasonably practicable (ALARP) to comply with the COSHH regulations.

Try to use collective protective measures where you can, especially if multiple people could be exposed, as these protect everyone.

A combination of controls is often the best defence; don't rely only on PPE on its own.

Routes of Exposure

For users of hazardous substances, there are four main routes of exposure:

• Skin Contact (and eye contact)
• Inhalation (breathing)
• Ingestion (swallowing)
• Injection (and cuts)

A substance is harmful when it comes into contact with the body in some way. For example, a substance may be hazardous to the skin if you touch it. Another might be harmful to the respiratory system if you breathe it in.

If there are routes of exposure directly into the body, tick these in this section of the COSHH assessment to let users know.

Additional PPE

There might be additional items of PPE that users need to wear when working with or around the hazardous substance. For example, if a substance can cause eye irritation, they might need to wear goggles. Or if a substance is dangerous when inhaled, they might need a dust mask or respiratory protective equipment (RPE).

This will also be detailed in your controls section, maybe even with extra information about the specific items or type, but this extra checkbox highlights what additional PPE users need.

First Aid Measures

The purpose of your COSHH assessment is to prevent exposure to hazardous substances. But what happens if people do get exposed?

Things can sometimes go wrong, and you must also plan for emergencies.

If harmful contact happens, quick action is vital, especially with high-hazard substances. People need to know what the correct first aid measures are, and these instructions should be included in the COSHH assessment.

Consider the types of first aid needed if your control measures fail. For example, the action required for skin contact will be different from inhalation.

The safety data sheet or industry guidance will outline recommended first aid advice. Consider if this applies to your activity and add the appropriate information to your assessment.

Remember to provide any first measures on-site. For example, if you instruct that " on contact with skin wash with soap, specialist hand cleaner and water ", you need to make sure that the soap, hand cleaner, and water are available on site.

Injury	Advice
Skin	For dry cement, remove and rinse abundantly with water. For wet cement, wash skin with water. Remove contaminated clothing, footwear, watches, etc, and clean thoroughly before re-using them. Seek medical treatment in all cases of irritation or burns.

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Once you have completed your COSHH assessment, remember to monitor the process to check that your controls work.

Review your assessment regularly. If you identify improvements, have an accident, or change the process, you should update your assessment. Decide on a suitable time frame to review the assessment. Depending on the risks involved, this may be annually or more often for high-risk substances.

Need help completing your COSHH assessments? Browse the library of pre-completed and ready to use COSHH assessment templates.