COSHH regulations for employers

These regulations (often known as the COSHH regulations) require employers to assess and prevent (or at least adequately control) the risks to health from the use of any hazardous substances used in the workplace. A hazardous substance is one which has, by law, to be labelled as 'very toxic', 'toxic', 'harmful', 'irritant' or 'corrosive'. It therefore includes many chemical substances such as paints and cleaning materials, as well as wood dust.

The obligations to employers when it comes to their own health and safety in the workplace is for them to:

• assess the risks
• decide what precautions are needed
• take steps to reduce or adequately control exposure to hazardous substances
• ensure that control measures are utilised and maintained
• monitor exposure
• carry out health surveillance of employees who have been or are likely to be exposed
• have in place emergency procedures to deal with accidents/incidents
• ensure that employees are properly informed, trained and supervised. This is key as a means to ensure and make sure that key members of staff are able to work in the most correct overall manner.

Educational establishments must have in place appropriate measures to ensure that the risks to the health and safety of pupils/students from exposure to hazardous substances are minimised. All these measures are a necessary fact given the fact a business needs to be ethical and responsible for its stakeholders and it needs to have in place a clear set of health and safety policies and guidelines when it comes to its own health and safety measures.