subject: A CoSHH Solution! [print this page] A CoSHH Solution! A CoSHH Solution!
Thousands of individuals health is compromised via exposure to hazardous substances and chemicals at their place of work.The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (CoSHH) guidelines were established by the government to promote a healthy working environment for employees by reducing exposure to hazardous substances.These regulations are enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) who endeavour to monitor UK businesses to ensure that they comply with CoSHH law. Breaking the CoSHH regulations is breaking the law and is punishable by fines or jail.It is inevitable that most companies will be using some hazardous substances. These could include thinners, air fresheners, washing up liquid, lubricants and much more. If you are using such chemicals then you need to adhere to COSHH regulations.The HSE have a set of precautions in place for employers to follow in order to limit exposure to hazardous substances. The list includes:Finding out what the dangers are;Determining how to prevent risk to health by completing a CoSHH risk assessment;Providing control measures to minimise harm to health;Ensuring that control measures are adhered to and are in satisfactory working order;Providing staff training and instruction;Allocating health surveillance for employees when necessary andPlanning for emergencies.CoSHH assessment software can be used to enable your business become CoSHH compliant. A user friendly CoSHH software tool is a practical and important aid in developing and executing fully compliant CoSHH risk assessments.The management of safety data sheets online saves so much time. It is essential that if an SDS has been updated by the manufacturer, then you must have this latest copy on file. SDS management will provide automatic notification alerting you that an updated version is available to download.A good CoSHH management solution will help you control your CoSHH risk assessments.If you have a large number of chemicals and processes in place it is not recommended that you download a template from assessment vendors. The HSE frowns upon this as it can create more risk to the operator of the task. It is crucial that the risk assessor has seen the process firsthand and spoken with the operator so that all risks associated with the task can be assessed as they actually are and not how they are assumed to be.It is crucial that company procedure and processes are reviewed annually. One benefit to a CoSHH software tool is the provision of an alert sytem which reminds the user of when it is time to review the CoSHH risk assessment.
