COSHH assessments explained

COSHH is the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 — the law that covers every substance on your site that can harm people. Cement, silica dust, diesel, epoxies, solvents, wood dust: if your work creates or uses it, you're required to assess the risk and control the exposure before the work starts.

Do small firms need COSHH assessments?

Yes. COSHH applies to every employer, one-man bands included. If you employ five or more people the assessment must be written down — but even below that, a written assessment is the only practical way to prove to a principal contractor that you've done it. Most sites now ask for COSHH assessments alongside your RAMS as a condition of starting work.

What a COSHH assessment covers

• The substance and the harm — what it is, how it hurts people (skin contact, inhalation, ingestion) and what the safety data sheet says
• Who's exposed and how — the task, duration, and who else nearby is affected
• Control measures — elimination or substitution first, then engineering controls like on-tool extraction and wetting down, then safe systems of work, with PPE as the last line — not the first
• Health surveillance — where exposure demands it (silica and wood dust being the big ones)
• Storage, spillage and disposal — plus first aid and emergency actions

The classic construction examples

Wet cement burns skin hours after contact — it's the most common cause of cement dermatitis in the trade. Cutting concrete, block or stone releases respirable crystalline silica, which is second only to asbestos as a cause of occupational lung disease in UK construction. Both need proper written assessments on almost every job — which is why they're the two most-downloaded COSHH documents we sell.

Templates that do the heavy lifting

A good COSHH template gives you the structure — hazard identification, exposure routes, the hierarchy of controls, PPE, first aid, storage and disposal — so you add the substance data and site specifics rather than starting from a blank page.

The Pro Site Docs COSHH Pack covers the substances UK sites actually use — cement and wet concrete, silica dust, diesel, epoxies and resins, solvents and adhesives, bitumen, chlorine chemicals, wood dust and more — all editable Word documents with a COSHH procedure included.

This guide is general information, not site-specific advice. A competent person must review and adapt any document to the specific works before use.