What is COSHH?
Haven’t heard of COSHH before? Or perhaps you have, but aren’t exactly sure on what it means? It’s vital as an employer that you understand COSHH so you can ensure the health and safety of your workers. So, keep reading!
Here at Candy Management Consultants, one of our most frequently asked health and safety-related questions is, “What is COSHH?”. This short blog will provide a COSHH definition, a guide to the COSHH symbols, and more.
COSHH stands for ‘Control of Substances Hazardous to Health’ and under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, employers must limit their employees’ exposure to substances that are hazardous to their health.
Substances Hazardous to Health at Work
Most businesses use substances that could cause harm to employees, and sometimes do not even realise. This could be anything from products used to clean an office to gases and fumes from welding. Hazardous substances in the workplace vary in the severity of injury that can be caused.
Substances can come in many different forms, such as:
- Chemicals
- Fumes
- Dust
- Vapours
- Mists
- Nanotechnology
- Gases
- Asphyxiating gases
- Biological agents
Symbols to Look Out For
How do you identify hazardous substances? Look out for the hazard symbols on packaging, these symbols are usually in a diamond shape and have a bold red border. Symbols include:
- Explosive
- Flammable
- Oxidising
- Corrosive
- Toxic
- Hazardous to the environment
- Health hazard / hazardous to the ozone layer
- Serious health hazard
- Gas under pressure
For obvious reasons, you should be careful when dealing with any of the above! COSHH training is the best way to keep your workers and others safe.
ISO 45001 and COSHH
It’s safe to say that we have established dealing with hazardous substances appropriately is crucial to ensure the safety of your employees.
If your organisation is serious about improving employee safety, ISO 45001 certification should be considered. The internationally recognised standard for occupational health and safety (OH&S) management has gained a reputation for creating better, safer working conditions. The structure of the standard also means it can be seamlessly integrated with the requirements of other ISO standards such as ISO 9001, the standard for quality management.
When implemented the correct way, ISO 45001 offers many advantages, regardless of the size of your business or the services or products it provides.
Top 5 Benefits include:
- Reduced absenteeism
- Enhanced work productivity
- Lower insurance costs
- Increased stakeholder confidence
- Improved employee engagement
Obtaining the certification will result in your organisation becoming more competitive and standing out as an industry leader.
Assistance with Health & Safety
Make sure your organisation receives only the best health and safety and ISO certification advice by choosing our team of experienced consultants here at Candy Management Consultants.
Each one of our expert consultants has an impressive 10 years of experience in the ISO and health and safety industries, so you can rest assured that you are in good hands with us.
COSHH Training
Hazardous substances are responsible for making thousands of workers ill by contracting lung diseases such as asthma; cancer, and skin diseases such as dermatitis. With this in mind, it is important that your employees and any other relevant personnel have received training to prevent injury or illness.
Ask yourself, how competent are your workers when it comes to COSHH? What control measures do you currently have in place to limit their exposure to hazardous substances?
COSHH training will provide you with:
- An understanding of how and which substances can cause harm
- Knowledge and definitions of exposure limits
- Skills to understand exposure and to conduct COSHH risk assessments
- An understanding of practical control measures and safe systems of work
Contact Us to learn more about COSHH training at Candy Management Consultants.