Unfortunately, even today, there are a lot of employers who still don't understand the COSHH regulations and what is required of them. Employers whose company uses dangerous chemicals, or produces hazardous substances through a work process, are required to perform COSHH assessments on every one of those work activities. However, they get confused by the assessment process and often use inadequate assessment techniques. This usually means that the control measures they decide

If you work in the hospitality business you'll know that the safety of your guests, and the cleanliness of your hotel is vitally important. Common cleaning products are often disregarded as low risk but these products are still chemicals and they're extremely bad for human health, if handled or stored incorrectly. Even the most common products are, or have, chemicals in them that can cause respiratory problems, skin and eye irritation and chemical burns. If they happen to be

Dust explosions can be particularly nasty beasts and they can happen anywhere there are flammable materials floating around in the air. Especially when that air is filled with oxygen; present on our planet in massive amounts and one of the main ingredients you need to make fire. You cannot create fire without an oxidant. What is a dust explosion? There are five fundamental requirements for a dust explosion to happen; Fuel, Oxidant, Dispersion, Ignition source, Confinement. Du

Hello everyone. I came across a great bit of news earlier this morning that will be great for tackling the use of hazardous substances that are deemed a major concern to public health and the planet. A great deal of these substances are present in the waste we produce on a daily basis, but there are still substances of concern in many products that we also use day-to-day. The product packaging then of course ends up on a landfill site, adding to the poison seeping into the Ea

The COSHH risk assessment was designed to identify risk involving exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace It's important to note that health hazards are not restricted to chemicals or substances with hazard warning labels. There are many harmful substances that can be created by the work you do; dust or fumes from sanding, cutting or dressing an item, for example. These substances are also regulated by COSHH since they pose serious health risks. To properly perform

I want to address personal protective equipment (PPE) and the fact that many workers 'forget' to use it. What you need to understand about PPE is that it's the last line of defence against hazards. PPE is enforced when there is no other possible way to prevent injury and refusing to use it is putting you in harm's way. I have heard many excuses as to why workers don't want to wear their PPE; "It's too hot, it's too heavy, it's in the way and slowing me down." Granted, they

Hey, Dale here again. Today I'm going to cover chemical safety in schools. The safety of our kids is paramount to us all, so I want to go over the requirements that your children's schools should be following when it comes to chemical safety. Every school in the UK is required to provide proper chemical safety measures to protect their employees, and most importantly, their students - your children. The requirement is called for under the Control of Substances Hazardous to He

Proper COSHH storage method and placement should be dictated by your risk assessments. This article will explain the correct procedures for COSHH storage, including: Eliminating and reducing risk when storing COSHH regulated products, When and how to properly ventilate, How to properly secure COSHH storage areas. If there has been no previous risk assessment taken, or it requires review, then it is necessary to undertake a risk assessment to ensure the safe handling and stora

Hey, it's Dale here again. Today I want to talk to you about the 10 basic rules that anyone who works with or around hazardous substances should know and follow. These basic rules are the backbone of all chemical safety and will ensure, along with the proper training, that your faithful employees are able to return home to their families at the end of their day. Why the basics? Well, it's my belief that today's chemical safety training isn't up to par. Not to mention that 90%

Safety Data Sheets (SDS), previously known as Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), are a requirement of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH.) REACH are a body of regulations put into place in June 2007 and are the controlling system for chemical use and handling in Europe. Since REACH took over control of the previous system, the Chemicals Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply Regulations 2002 (CHIP), it has been changed to adh

When a workplace frequently uses chemicals, or creates substances that are hazardous to health through a work process then everyone on-site must immediately be able to know and recognise the COSHH symbols and their meanings. These symbols are required to be placed on the packaging of hazardous substances. COSHH symbols must be clearly visible and instantly convey the correct warning pertaining to the use, storage and transport of a substance. Following the 2-year grace period

Hello again. Today I want to talk to you about the results of my recent survey of over 6,000 businesses. And how it proves that over 90% of companies in the UK are failing in at least one aspect of chemical safety. If you use chemicals of any kind in your workplace, and most businesses do, then you should read this carefully. You have probably heard of safety data sheets. You should have if your workplace uses hazardous chemicals. You should see them quite often, in fact.

Hello, my name is Dale and I'm the Founder of the International Association for Chemical Safety (IACS) Today I want to talk to you about the side-effects of poorly handled chemical safety in the workplace. These are the things the safety authorities don't want you to know! I also want to tell you about - The new COSHH Risk Assessor Certification™. I created this FREE accreditation course to tackle the incredibly massive number of chemical safety mistakes that happen all ov

I was digging through the results of a new survey I put together a while ago. The survey was called 'Is your business compliant with chemical safety law? (COSHH)'. Why did I do it? I wanted to know what areas of chemical safety people are struggling with. Over the week I collected answers to 14 COSHH related multiple choice questions. I couldn't believe what I was reading! (their answers were shocking) Anyway, 230 people completed the survey in full. Alarmingly though, 414 st

COSHH, or The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 is how the UK government ensure safe use and control of hazardous substances. COSHH is a statutory body of regulations in the United Kingdom. It places certain requirements on employers to ensure that employees and other visitors to a workplace are protected from hazardous substances. These substances include: Fumes, Dust, Fibres, Biological agents, Nano-particles, Chemicals Vapours. Every business with

There are so many training companies, safety consultancies, self-appointed governing bodies and so on asking a lot from your hard-earned cash. What for? COSHH training. To me, when it comes to chemical risk assessment or COSHH assessment, existing training seems questionable or inadequate. Let me explain... When you take your driving test, you do the theory, for which you are competency checked and then you do the practical, as in, you drive a car about and prove you're not g