COSHH: Hazardous substances

Your legal responsibility

Working with chemicals or other harmful substances can jeopardise health, so the law requires you to manage and minimise exposure to these risks. You must safeguard not only your employees but also any other people who could be affected.

Which laws apply?

• The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended) (COSHH)
• The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (as amended) (COSHH)

Under COSHH regulations, you must ensure that your employees are not exposed to substances hazardous to health, or, if complete prevention is not reasonably achievable, that such exposure is properly and effectively controlled.

If you, as an employer, do not take sufficient measures to control hazardous substances, it could result in illness among your employees or others. The consequences can range from minor issues like eye irritation to serious conditions such as chronic lung disease or, in extreme cases, even death. Failing to comply with COSHH regulations could expose you to legal penalties, including prosecution, as well as potential civil lawsuits from employees.

Harmful substances controlled under COSHH

Harmful substances controlled under COSHH include the vast majority of commercial chemicals, many of which have a hazard-warning label, such as:

• Materials used directly in work tasks (e.g. adhesives, paints, cleaning products)
• Substances produced during work processes (e.g. fumes from soldering or welding)
• Naturally occurring substances (e.g. grain dust)
• Biological agents, such as bacteria and other microorganisms. These substances can be breathed in, absorbed through the skin, or swallowed. Health effects may be immediate or take years to develop (making it difficult to link the ill health to the exposure), and can include skin conditions, asthma, loss of consciousness, infection, and cancer.

Under the COSHH regulations, COVID-19 would only be a hazardous substance if a worker comes into contact with it either:

• by directly working with the virus, for example researching it in laboratories; or
• due to their work activity, such as care workers caring for infectious patients.

Harmful substances not controlled under COSHH

COSHH covers almost all substances hazardous to health, except for:

• Asbestos which is governed by the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
• Lead which is regulated under the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002.
• Substances that are hazardous solely due to being:
• Radioactive: governed by the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017.
• Under high pressure: regulated by the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000.
• At extreme temperatures: controlled under various workplace safety standards but not specifically under COSHH.
• Explosive or flammable: these are controlled by the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR).
• Biological agents that are beyond your control, such as catching an infection from a colleague, are not covered by COSHH, but general health and safety laws, like the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, may apply.