An Introduction to CoSHH

1
An Introduction to CoSHH

• (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health
  Regulations,2004)

2
What is a hazardous substance under the
Regulations?

• Substances mixtures classified as dangerous
  under CHIP (Chemicals (Hazard Information and
  Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2008 )
• Substances with WELs (Workplace exposure limits)
• Biological agents
• Some dusts, especially in high concentrations
• Other substances of comparable hazard

3
What are NOT hazardous substances under CoSHH?

• Lead and Asbestos (separate regulations)
• Substances only hazardous due to
• Radio-activity
• Simple asphyxiants
• High pressure or extremes of temperature
• Biological agents not connected with work
• Eg Swine flu or catching a cold from a colleague
• Labels are a good guide!

4
What must an employer do?

• Eliminate or reduce risks from hazardous
  substances
• This is achieved by
• Risk assessment
• Control measures
• Monitoring health exposure if necessary
• Information, training and supervision

5
What must an employee do?

• Take reasonable care of our own safety and not
  endanger others
• Cooperate with our employer
• Make full and proper use of control measure
• Just reiterating our duties under HSAW

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Step 1 Risk Assessment for CoSHH

• Identify the hazardous substance(s) eg
• Chemicals
• Biological materials
• Mixtures
• Proprietary products
• Reaction products and intermediates

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Step 1 Risk Assessment for CoSHH

• New International Hazard Symbols
• Danger Flammable Oxidiser

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Step 1 Risk Assessment for CoSHH

• New International Hazard Symbols
• Explosive Corrosive Compressed or
• liquefied gas

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Step 1 Risk Assessment for CoSHH

• New International Hazard Symbols
• Aquatic Warning Sensitiser, carcinogen,
• Toxicity mutagen or teratogen

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OTHER SYMBOLS YOU MIGHT SEE WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
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FLAMMABLE
EXPLOSIVE
HARMFUL TO THE ENVIRONMENT
HIGHLY FLAMMABLE
TOXIC
IRRITANT / HARMFUL
CORROSIVE
VERY TOXIC
OXIDISING
BIOLOGICAL AGENT
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Step 1Other sources of information

• Use available data eg.
• Data sheets labels
• Workplace exposure limits (WELs) see Safety
  Services web site
• On-line databases
• Previous experience publications
• (Especially for novel products)

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Step 1Decide who is at risk and how

• Staff
• Students
• Others
• Consider their current training (if any) and
  their background

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Step 1Decide who is at risk and how

• Inhalation
• Skin or eye contamination
• Ingestion
• Injection

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Step 1Evaluate the Risk

• Factors to Consider
• Toxicity
• Form (gas, spray, dust, liquid, solid)
• Solubility
• Amount (weight /or volume)
• Nature of the operation
• Length of exposure
• Number of people involved

OR
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Step 2 Decide on Control Measures

• Control exposure in proportion to risk by using
  the hierarchy of controls.
• Personal protective equipment should be a last
  resort as the prime means of control

?
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Step 3 Use of Control Measures (1)

• Replace substance with a safer alternative
• Eg use a lower hazard disinfectant rather than
  bleach (irritant) if it will do the job adequately

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Step 3 Use of Control Measures (2)

• Use the material in a safer form eg
• Use water-based paint instead of solvent-based
  paint
• Buy hazardous materials in pre-weighed sachets
  rather than having to measure make-up from bulk
  quantities

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Step 3 Use of Control Measures (3)

• Control the operation eg
• Isolate the work
• Control at source
• Fume cupboard
• Local exhaust ventilation
• Reduce the number of workers
• Reduce the frequency

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Step 3 Use of Control Measures (4)

• Personal protective equipment as a last resort
• Protects only the worker not others in the room
• Training maintenance required
• Often not very comfortable

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Step 3 Use of Control Measures (5)

• Good laboratory techniques is vital eg.
• Labelling
• Correct substance storage
• Warning signs where appropriate
• Cleanliness tidiness
• Correct waste disposal

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Step 4 Maintenance of control measures

• Must be kept in good repair working properly
• Regular simple checks on airflow
• LEV fume cupboards must have engineering checks
  every 14 months
• Records kept for 5 years

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Step 5Monitor Exposure

• Measure concentrations where assessment concludes
  that
• There is a serious risk if controls fail
• Exposure limits may be exceeded
• Control measures may not be working properly
• Employees are involved in certain specific work
  in Schedule 5 (unlikely in the University apart
  from possibly use of vinyl chloride monomer)
• Records must be kept for 5 years

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Step 6Health Surveillance

• Only required if
• Significant exposure of Schedule 6 processes
  (apart from vinyl chloride use, these are all
  manufacturing processes)
• Likelihood of exposure to substances linked to
  specific diseases but only if
• There is a reasonable likelihood that this will
  occur
• It is actually possible to detect the disease or
  effect
• Records to be kept for 40 years

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Step 7 Derive safe working procedures

• Preparation phase(eg weighing out)
• The process itself
• Safe waste disposal
• Emergency procedures
• Spillage
• Fire
• First aid

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Step 8Workers must have adequate

• Information
• Instruction
• Training
• Supervision
• This will include the procedures themselves and
  what to do in an emergency

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Step 9Check and review

• Are the control measures adequate?
• Are they working correctly?
• Is everyone aware of how to use them?
• Have you the necessary equipment to deal with an
  emergency or malfunction?

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What now?

• If you are working in a Science, Medicine or
  Engineering department, you should now find out
  the specific forms and methods used in your
  department for CoSHH assessments.
• If you are working mainly with proprietary
  products (cleaning materials, lubricants,
  household chemicals etc), you may find it useful
  to complete the presentation on examining data
  sheets