COSHH, Safety Data Sheets & Hazardous Materials

Almost every trade uses at least one product that falls under COSHH — adhesives, sealants, cleaning chemicals, fuel, cutting and grinding dust. On a commercial site, COSHH assessments get the same scrutiny as RAMS: generic, undated, or clearly copied paperwork tends to get sent back, while a short, accurate, product-specific assessment tends to pass without comment.

Chapter 7 — COSHH assessments that actually help on site

At its core, a COSHH assessment does three things: identifies which hazardous substances are actually being used on the task, assesses the health risk they present, and sets out the control measures that reduce that risk to an acceptable level. The assessment only does its job if the person using the substance can look at it and understand exactly what to do differently because of it.

The same principle from earlier in this series applies here: a COSHH assessment written for "adhesives" in general is weaker than one written for the specific product being used on this job, because the actual hazards, first aid measures and control requirements differ between products even within the same category.

Start by listing every hazardous substance likely to be used on the task — not just the obvious ones. Cutting and grinding masonry or metal generates hazardous dust and fume even though nothing was "brought onto site" in a container. Fuel for generators or cutting equipment is easy to overlook because it's treated as routine. A useful COSHH assessment covers what's actually present, not just what came with a warning label.

• What is the substance, and what is it being used for on this task?
• What are the health hazards — inhalation, skin contact, ingestion?
• What control measures reduce exposure — ventilation, extraction, substitution, PPE?
• What's the correct storage and disposal method?
• What should happen if something goes wrong — spill, exposure, ingestion?

Chapter 8 — Safety Data Sheets and hazardous materials

The Safety Data Sheet supplied by the manufacturer is the source document behind most of a COSHH assessment, which makes two things worth checking every time: that it's the current version, and that it's actually for the specific product being used, not a similar one from the same range.

Manufacturers do revise Safety Data Sheets, and a copy saved from a previous job may no longer reflect the current formulation, hazard classification or first aid guidance. Where practical, pulling a fresh copy from the manufacturer at the point of use is safer than relying on a saved file, particularly for products used infrequently.

The right question isn't "do we have a Safety Data Sheet for this?" — it's "is this the current one, for this exact product?"

From the full Safety Data Sheet, a site COSHH assessment typically only needs a handful of sections translated into practical instructions: the hazard classification, the recommended PPE, the first aid measures, and the storage and handling requirements. Keeping the relevant extract accessible on site — not just filed at the office — means it's actually there if it's needed in the moment, rather than the moment after.

The full series

Seven parts. Each part stands alone; together they build a complete commercial documentation system.