Due to the way we live and work, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be found everywhere around us, most of the time. VOC is a classification given to certain chemicals that easily and quickly evaporate and develop into odorous gases and vapours that can significantly increase the accumulation of potentially hazardous substances in the air, especially when released indoors. Formaldehyde and terpenes are well known examples of VOCs. A lot of these VOCs, and others like them,

Having a strong safety program in place at work is essential. This program will inform your employees that you are properly able to ensure their safety while they're going through their daily work activities. It will also provide information on specific responsibilities and step-to-step work processes for certain jobs in your workplace. Your workplace safety program should be a constantly updated and easily accessible series of documents that can be referred to by anyone, at

When you're a kid, your bedroom is your sanctuary. It's where you sleep, it's where you feel safe and it's where you begin to face your fears of monsters and the darkness. As a parent though, it pays to be observant of what is lying around in your children's rooms. There are usually several things lying around in kids bedrooms so there are a few risks to keep in mind when arranging their furniture, electronics (when they're old enough) and toys. Check out these 20 tips, cover

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

I've been trying to prevent injuries and death in the work place for a long time now so it's shocking to see how many workers receive grievous injuries in their workplace from such hazards that may cause slips, trips and falls. I came across the results of the Labour Force Survey for last year and there were over 600,000+ injuries in workplaces across the UK, with the vast majority of those being due to a slip, trip or fall. How is it, in 2019, that over 600,000 people injure

Hey guys. I've written a lot about potential risks around the workplace, but what does risk actually mean? It's important to understand that risk is not a hazard, even though (for some reason) they have become kind of synonymous. They do not mean the same thing! A hazard is something that may become a source of harm or have detrimental health effects on people. Risk is the probability of a person or persons being harmed or suffering those detrimental health effects. Here's an

Accidents happen. They happen to a lot of people all around the world. Every day somebody, somewhere has an accident. And not just one somebody, but thousands every day. While accidents can occur anywhere and to anyone, some of the most dangerous are the most common and they happen in our homes. Below is a list of 6 of the most common, and often very dangerous, accidents that could take place in your home. ​Trips and Falls ​​It's true that anyone can fall at any time. Some of

I find it shocking that people are still asking this question. And, yes. Somebody asked me about it again over the weekend. It's now 2020 and people are still not certain? Why? I mean health and safety laws (which, yes includes COSHH) were put into place many years ago to protect employees from injuries and accidents at work. Let's go over Health and Safety law first. There are two governmental bodies that deal with health and safety at work and they are - the Health and Safe

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. This morning I've been looking into breaches of the COSHH Regulations. And I'm completely baffled by how many companies have been fined, directors put in prison and unfortunate workers injured. It's 2020 and companies are still cutting corners with safety? As a safety professional, it deeply upsets me that these employers can be so cavalier about the lives of their workforce. And yes, there have been deaths as well as countless injuries; a worrying amount of them life

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

Hey, it's Dale here again. Today I want to clear up the confusion pertaining to which training is needed to safely handle, use and store hazardous substances in the workplace. It is a question that often comes up when business owners need to send their employees for training in health and safety. Especially when it's chemical safety. I have heard it being said that COSHH training is only required for employees of large businesses in the industrial sector who use large quantit

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%

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