Often harmful substances are easily recognised, but there are many that are not so obvious. Commonly used substances such as paint, bleach or dust from natural materials may also be very harmful to health.
As an employer, it pays to understand the risks related to the use of hazardous substances and the interactions between them. Most businesses use substances, or products that are mixtures of substances. Some processes create substances. These could cause harm to employees, contractors and other people.
Sometimes substances are easily recognised as harmful. Equally, common household substances such as paint, bleach or dust from natural materials may also be harmful. In other circumstances, the potential harm caused by a substance or material may not be easily recognised or even understood. COSHH covers most substances that are hazardous to health. You may have heard of them before…. You are probably already aware of many risks in your trade or industry. Examples include processes that emit dust e.
Depending on the risk profile of your process, you may need to carry out a quantitative measurement of the exposure. Examples include fume from welding or soldering, mist from metalworking, dust from quarrying, gases from silage. It will be highly valuable to also review information held by the business relating to accidents , incidents, near misses and concern reports.
Make sure to cover any direct or suspected ill-health reports that have occurred or been affected by work activities. Hopefully you have records of any low-level first aid events that have happened, those will inform you on what is happening on the ground too. It should be very clear as to which hazardous substances you use, how you use them and how the risk of harm is controlled. The important thing is to make sure the relevant information is easily accessible and available to those that need it, at all times.
If a substance is in the original container, it should have information relating to the hazardous properties of the chemical. The latest internationally-recognised hazard pictograms are very similar to those used in the old labelling system. They appear in the shape of a diamond with a distinctive red border and white background.
COSHH lays down a sensible step-by-step approach to the necessary precautions. Definitions Hazard — is the potential to cause harm Risk — is the likelihood that it will harm you in the actual circumstances of use The risk will depend on a number of factors, such as the hazard presented by the substance, how it is used, how exposure is controlled, the degree and extent of exposure etc. COSHH requires: Assessment of the risks Deciding what precautions are needed Prevention or control of the risks Ensuring that control measures are used and maintained Monitoring exposure and health surveillance, where necessary Informing, instructing and training employees about the risks and precautions needed.
Share this:. Just like a book, after the index comes chapter one which in this case is a step by step process of what to do at the Start of works. The Method Statement and Risk Assessment have a symbiotic relationship where one influences the other, and should be created together. If you imagine that you are using this template to write a method statement for cleaning windows, you should firstly jot down key activities, which begin to highlight the risks and may then alter the method used for carrying out a task.
Here's an example:. Straight away from the first activity of getting hot water, a Risk is created and a Method is produced. The risk is from scalding and the safe working method will be to add cold water to the bucket before hot. What's also important to remember is that the best people to help you write a method statement are the people who carry out the tasks you are writing about.
Finally at the end of the method statement template is the section to add your name, sign and date the document to say that you are happy to submit it to contractors and employees as required.
We do hope that this tutorial helped. However , if you need further advice, Risk Assessments, Method Statements or COSHH Assessments you can either use the search box found near the top of the page, or browse our categories on the left-hand side, and of course, if you can't find what you're looking for, please get in touch.
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