If your work involves substances that can harm health, the law requires a COSHH assessment. Here's how to do one, and a template to start.
A COSHH assessment identifies the hazardous substances you use or create, judges how people could be exposed, and sets out the controls that keep that exposure low enough to be safe. This page explains what COSHH covers, walks you through the assessment, and gives you a free, editable template to start from. Then, because a template only takes you so far, it shows you where a consultant earns their fee.
More than the obvious chemicals.
COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. It's the law that requires employers to control exposure to substances that can damage health, and it covers far more than the bottles in the cupboard. It does not cover asbestos, lead or radioactive material, which have their own specific regulations. For everything else hazardous to health, COSHH is the duty.
Cleaning products, solvents, adhesives and paints. The everyday substances most workplaces use without a second thought, many of which are hazardous to health.
Including wood dust and silica from cutting or grinding. People often miss process dust because they didn't buy it, but it's one of the most damaging exposures there is.
Including welding fume and exhaust. Invisible at the point of work, but breathed in shift after shift until the damage is done.
Like bacteria from contaminated water. A hazard in cooling systems, waste handling and care settings that a chemical-only mindset overlooks.
Not just the ones you buy in. If your work generates a hazardous dust, fume or by-product, that sits under COSHH too.
Asbestos, lead and radioactive material are excluded. They each have their own specific regulations and a different duty, separate from COSHH.
Four questions you answer before anyone is exposed.
A COSHH assessment is the systematic check you do before exposing anyone to a hazardous substance. You record the findings, put the controls in place, and review them when things change. At its heart, it answers four questions:
The specific harm this substance can do to health, drawn from its properties and the way it's used, not a generic label.
The people at risk and the route in: breathing it in, contact with skin or eyes, or swallowing it. Plus anyone at particular risk.
A judgement of the real exposure in your process, not the worst case on paper. This is the part a template can't do for you.
The controls that reduce exposure to an acceptable level, and confirmation that they actually work in practice.
Five steps to a COSHH assessment that stands up.
The free template walks you through this structure. Here's what each step asks of you, in order.
A form can't judge the exposure in your specific process.
The free template gives you a sound structure. What it can't do is judge the exposure in your specific process: how much dust your particular saw throws, whether your ventilation actually works, what protection factor of RPE the concentration demands. Get those judgements wrong and the assessment looks complete on paper while leaving people exposed. That's the part worth getting right, because COSHH exposures cause illnesses that show up years later, when they're irreversible and the HSE is asking why your controls failed.
The H&S specialist who writes COSHH assessments that hold up.
You get one named consultant, qualified in health and safety, and you keep them. They learn your substances, your process and your ventilation, so the assessment reflects how you actually work, not a generic form.
“I work with businesses to provide practical, hands-on health and safety advice. It's important that you have the right systems and procedures in place, but they need to be written for your business and not just be generic. We provide a very hands-on approach with one nominated consultant as your point of contact — no call centres.”
Book a Free ReviewCommon COSHH questions
What is COSHH?
What is a COSHH assessment?
Who is responsible for COSHH?
Do I need a COSHH assessment for cleaning products?
How often should a COSHH assessment be reviewed?
A template gets you started. Getting it right is the hard part.
A generic form won't know your substances, your process or your ventilation. Your named Spectra consultant writes COSHH assessments that stand up when an auditor, a client or the HSE asks, and tells you whether your controls actually work. Book a free review and we'll tell you what's missing.