Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

14.8 
Details of a COSHH assessment
Not all hazardous substances are covered by the COSHH 
Regulations. If there is no warning symbol on the sub-
stance container or it is a biological agent which is not 
directly used in the workplace (such as an infl uenza virus), 
then no COSHH assessment is required. The COSHH 
Regulations do not apply to those hazardous substances 
which are subject to their own individual regulations 
(asbestos, lead or radioactive substances). The COSHH 
Regulations do apply to the following substances:
➤
substances having occupational exposure limits as 
listed in the HSE publication EH40 (Occupational 
Exposure Limits)
➤
substances or combinations of substances listed in 
the Chemicals (Hazard, Information and Packaging 
for Supply) Regulations better known as the CHIP 
Regulations
➤
biological agents connected with the workplace
➤
substantial quantities of airborne dust (more the 
10 mg/m
3
of total inhalable dust or 4 
mg/m
3
of 
respirable dust, both 8 hour time-weighted average, 
when there is no indication of a lower value)
➤
any substance creating a comparable hazard which 
for technical reasons may not be covered by CHIP.
14.8.1 Assessment requirements
A COSHH assessment is very similar to a risk assess-
ment but is applied specifi 
cally to hazardous sub-
stances. There are six stages to a COSHH assessment:
1. identify the hazardous substances present in the 
workplace and those who could be affected by 
them
2. gather information about the hazardous substances
3. evaluate the risks to health
4. decide on the control measures, if any, required, 
including information, instruction and training
5. record the assessment
6. review the assessment.
It is important that the assessment is conducted by 
somebody who is competent to undertake it. Such com-
petence will require some training, the extent of which will 
depend on the complexities of the workplace. For large 
organizations with many high-risk operations, a team of 
competent assessors will be needed. If the assessment is 
simple and easily repeated, a written record is not neces-
sary. In other cases, a concise and dated record of the 
assessment together with recommended control meas-
ures should be made available to all those likely to be 
affected by the hazardous substances. The assessment 

---