What is COSHH Training?

Every year, approximately 1.8 million people in Great Britain suffer from work-related illnesses. Many of these are completely preventable with proper safety measures in place. If your workplace uses cleaning chemicals, paints, or any other potentially harmful substances, COSHH training is a necessity for both employers and employees to make sure they are being handled and stored correctly.

In this article, we delve into COSHH’s meaning, the contents of this training and its role in the control of hazardous substances to help protect the health of workers across the country.

Ready to take COSHH training? We provide up-to-date courses covering this subject matter, available in a 100% online format.

What Does COSHH Stand For?

COSHH Meaning: COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health. It is a law and statutory instrument enforced in the UK by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which is Great Britain’s regulator for workplace health and safety.

COSHH refers to the general requirements that employers need to follow to protect the health and safety of their employees who are working in an environment in which hazardous substances are present.

What is the Purpose of COSHH?

The COSHH legislation is something that many individuals will be familiar with in their workplace. The purpose of COSHH as a whole is to ensure that there is an adequate framework in place which employers can follow in order to protect the health of employees in their workplace.

The main objective of COSHH is to prevent any ill health from coming to employees by either removing or properly controlling workplace exposure to hazardous substances, with these specific substances being outlined by the legislation itself.

These substances include:

• Chemicals
• Liquids
• Fumes
• Gels
• Powders
• Mists
• Dust
• Microorganisms
• Biological agents
• Gases
• Nanotechnology
• Any other substances that are known to be harmful to health

Employers and employees must be aware of what COSHH is as well as its purpose and objectives to protect their individual and others’ health and safety.

COSHH Guidelines, Procedures, and Risk Assessments

COSHH guidelines outline what is expected of employers and employees concerning controlling hazardous substances in the workplace. To comply with COSHH guidelines, everyone must take steps in order to minimise the risk posed by hazardous substances. COSHH risk assessments are conducted to achieve this adequately.

As with many of the HSE’s guidelines and procedures, COSHH risk assessments begin with identifying and assessing risk. Any potentially harmful substances are found and the negative impact that they may have on individuals’ health is considered.

An example may be identifying any chemicals that are in regular use, what these chemicals are, and the specific health-related risks they pose. Once all of these substances are recorded during a risk assessment, COSHH's best practice states that attempts to substitute them should be made.

Beyond this, COSHH is all about limiting exposure. This encompasses actions such as limiting the use of a particular substance as possible if it is not possible to remove it from the workplace entirely and wearing the right protective equipment.

The COSHH procedure in its assessment will also cover what happens when the safeguards fail and someone does come into contact with a hazardous substance. This might be as simple as washing the affected area with warm water or, on a more serious note, calling for emergency services.

Being in tune with COSHH requirements and the steps of its risk assessment means you’re conscious of the exact hazards in your workplace, their risks, and how you can best stop them from harming anyone.

What is COSHH Training?

Given that COSHH regulations and procedures are an important part of workplace health and safety, it will come as no surprise that it's an essential aspect of workplace training for many businesses.

The COSHH legislation doesn’t mandate a particular qualification that employees must have in order to work with substances that are hazardous to health. But, it does state that these individuals should receive appropriate training to ensure that they can carry out their job safely when they are doing so.

COSHH training is, therefore, an instruction that can take place over several sessions or during an online course. It will cover the basics of COSHH’s principles, as well as how to follow COSHH procedures and risk assessments appropriately.

What’s covered in Virtual College’s COSHH Training?

As providers of a comprehensive catalogue of Health and Safety training, COSHH training is a key course we provide. If you work in a sector where hazardous materials are used, or even use them in the capacity of cleaning or storage, even if you don’t work with them directly, COSHH is crucial. 

Our RoSPA-assured training course will equip you with all of the skills you need to keep yourself and others safe around these kinds of hazardous materials. Over the course of the 6 online modules, you’ll learn:

• Identification: How to identify chemicals, biological agents, dusts, fumes, and other dangerous materials in your specific work environment.
• Responsibilities: What employers and employees must do under COSHH regulations to keep their workplace safe.
• Conducting risk assessments: The practical steps for how to evaluate hazards and then put the right control measures in place.
• Safety practices - Know when and how to use protective equipment, follow safe handling procedures, and respond to any incidents.

By the end of the course, you should feel confident in your ability to safely work with dangerous substances in a controlled way.

Who is Responsible for COSHH Training?

The employer of an organisation is responsible for managing and enforcing COSHH in the workplace. This involves everything from ensuring that the necessary risk assessments are in place to being responsible for ensuring staff is educated on the topic of COSHH and how they can reduce the risks of hazardous substances that they come into contact with.

If you are an employer who is managing a team in a workplace environment that has hazardous substances, you need to ensure that you are offering the necessary education and training to your staff members to protect their health at work.

Who is Required to Have COSHH Training?

Anyone who works in an environment in which there are hazardous substances that are being used, created, or handled needs to have adequate COSHH training to understand the key principles of the COSHH legislation and how to control and eliminate the risks posed by hazardous substances.

COSHH training courses are suitable for anyone who comes into contact with hazardous substances and materials in the workplace. Examples of professions which should undertake COSHH training include:

• Oil and gas workers
• Mechanics
• Engineers
• Farmers
• Painters
• Decorators
• Cleaning staff
• Builders

Cleaners, in particular, can be found in lots of businesses, so even if your workplace is primarily office based, consider that if you don’t outsource cleaning some COSHH training might be required.

Online COSHH training courses are available and are a convenient way for employees to receive the necessary training that they need to understand COSHH and the threats posed by hazardous substances in the workplace. For example, our COSHH Training Course addresses this and also delves further into the control measures that need to be put into place to protect the health of workers, alongside other learnings to enhance knowledge surrounding COSHH.

How to Comply with COSHH

For both employers and employees, there are a number of responsibilities that need to be adopted in line with COSHH legislation and guidelines. By participating in COSHH training, these will be made clear and can, therefore, be executed accordingly.

Here are both employee and employer key responsibilities following COSHH regulations.

Employer Responsibilities

• Minimising or eliminating exposure to hazardous substances in ways such as providing necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) when required
• Offering employees the necessary training and learning opportunities required to understand the dangers of working with hazardous substances and how they can best perform their roles in light of this
• Implementing additional safety procedures in the event of an accident, incident, or emergency involving a hazardous substance
• Carrying out the necessary COSHH risk assessments
• Ensuring employees are carrying out their tasks in line with COSHH guidelines appropriately
• Enforcing control measures in relation to hazardous substances and ensuring that these are maintained and in a clean condition where necessary
• Making sure that the amount of hazardous substances in the workplace is not more than those outlined by the Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL)
• Ensuring that employees who may be exposed to hazardous substances are monitored accordingly

Employee Responsibilities

• Helping others create a safe working environment by following the necessary regulations and guidelines within the workplace
• Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) when required to prevent contact with hazardous substances whilst also ensuring these are maintained and stored appropriately
• Following all guidelines and procedures enforced by employers in line with COSHH legislation to prevent exposure to and harm being caused by hazardous substances
• Reporting any instances and accidents in which harm or contamination has been caused by hazardous substances
• Storing and returning equipment accordingly
• Keeping up to date with the necessary COSHH training as provided by employers
• Using necessary washing and showering facilities when required in the workplace
• Keeping a good level of personal hygiene

Book Your COSHH Training Today

Virtual College's RoSPA Assured COSHH Training Course gives you and your team the practical skills to handle hazardous substances safely. Book your training today to get instant access to this vital one-hour course. Pause at any point and resume training whenever you like.

FAQs

Is COSHH training a legal requirement?

Whilst it is not explicitly stated that training is required, COSHH does state that employees need to provide the necessary information to understand the risks and hazards in the workplace and the control measures that need to be taken and how to carry these out appropriately. Therefore, COSHH training is a must in all workplaces where hazardous substances are present.

How often should COSHH training be completed?

There is no set requirement for how often COSHH training should take place or when refresher courses should be offered. However, it is useful to revisit health and safety-related topics every year to two years to ensure employers are constantly refreshed on the importance of COSHH and the risks associated with improper management of hazards in the workplace.