Everything you need to understand COSHH

COSHH is the UK law that makes employers control substances hazardous to health. Here's what it covers, what it doesn't, and what it actually requires you to do.

What the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 actually require — the assessment, the control duty, the principles of good practice, monitoring, health surveillance and training — in plain English.

How to carry out a suitable and sufficient COSHH assessment: gather the substance information, work out who's exposed and how, evaluate the risk, choose controls using the hierarchy, then record and review.

The sections a complete COSHH assessment should contain — substance and hazard information, exposure, control measures, PPE, monitoring, emergencies and a review date. A practical checklist.

A worked COSHH assessment example, section by section, using a common cleaning task. Shows the level of detail that makes an assessment suitable and sufficient — with the caveat that HSE doesn't publish an official template.

The employer holds the legal duty for COSHH assessments — it can't be delegated away. Here's who does what: the employer, the competent person who carries it out, and the employee's own duties.

There's no fixed legal interval for reviewing a COSHH assessment. The law says review it regularly, and immediately if things change. Here's what that means — and why 'every 12 months' is a myth.

The old orange square COSHH symbols were replaced by nine red-diamond CLP hazard pictograms. Here's what each one means and why the change matters for your COSHH assessment.

A COSHH assessment is a specific type of risk assessment for hazardous substances. Here's how it differs from a general workplace risk assessment, and when you need each.