For the uninitiated, COSHH stands for the Control of Substances that are Hazardous to Health. This is a piece of UK health and safety legislation that aims to control the safe handling, use, and storage of chemicals, substances, and materials that might pose a risk to the health of the workforce. Many forms of business will typically use substances or materials that pose this risk. For example, some chemicals in a factory environment may be corrosive and could severely damage the body if they come into contact with human skin or are ingested.
Other materials may be highly flammable and may pose a fire or explosion risk if improperly stored or handled. It is important to understand that COSHH guidelines and legislation are designed to create a working environment where the associated risks from these materials are kept at minimum levels. This article will discuss some workplace best practices concerning COSHH regulations.
Choosing suitable storage solutions for COSHH materials
One key element to consider when thinking about best COSHH practices is the safe storage of potentially hazardous materials and substances. Managers and health and safety staff will need to look at a range of storage solutions. The chosen equipment will largely depend on the nature of the substances, what environmental conditions they need to be kept in (e.g., do they need to be in a temperature-controlled environment) in addition to other safety considerations.
Thankfully, firms such as Seton produce a range of storage solutions that can be used to store your COSHH-related substances and materials. Typically, these will encompass secure structures, potentially being able to be locked to limit unnecessary access to them. It is highly beneficial to undertake a COSHH risk assessment in the first instance. This can help you accurately map out each substance’s risks and what the ideal storage mediums will be.
COSHH risk registers
Another COSHH best practice is to develop a risk register of all hazardous materials. This allows businesses to have a single source of information that lists every substance that falls under the remit of COSHH. This should include a detailed description of the risks that are associated with each substance and how they are currently managed or mitigated. Control measures should be highlighted for each substance, and this should comply with best practices in the industry. Ideally, the risk register should be regularly updated. This can be when new substances are acquired and to ensure that all the information is relevant and conforms to current guidelines.
Developing an incident and near-miss reporting culture
Finally, all firms that have COSHH substances should seek to develop a robust incident and near-miss reporting culture. Staff should be encouraged to submit incident reports when an accident occurs, or a potential incident is avoided. This information should be held on a risk management database and will provide a source of information to enable Health and Safety staff to monitor ongoing risks with COSHH materials. In short, a strong culture of incident reporting allows the real-time monitoring of safety in the workplace and gives managers and staff the information they need to take suitable remedial actions to limit future adverse events from occurring.
