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    COSHHControl of Substances Hazardous to Health

    Definition

    Control of Substances Hazardous to Health — a workplace framework for assessing and controlling exposure to harmful substances.

    Editorial definition: The QHSE Standard, updated 3 October 2026 · https://qhsetech.com/glossary/coshh

    Scope: COSHH and REACH can both apply. They address different duties and are not interchangeable with US hazard-communication requirements.

    Example for your evaluation: Check that a chemical assessment records the actual task and exposure, alongside the supplier's SDS.

    Sources checked: . Examples are editorial illustrations.

    What the COSHH Regulations 2002 and HSE guidance say

    The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2677) apply in Great Britain. Regulation 6 says an employer cannot carry out work that exposes employees to a hazardous substance without first making a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk and putting the protective steps it identifies into effect. The regulation lists what the assessment takes into account: the hazardous properties of the substance, the supplier's information including the safety data sheet, the level, type and duration of exposure, the amounts used, activities such as maintenance where exposure may be high, any applicable occupational exposure limit, the preventive measures, health surveillance and monitoring results, and the combined risk of several substances. The assessment is reviewed regularly and whenever circumstances change, and an employer with five or more employees records the significant findings and the steps taken.

    HSE's guidance turns this into three steps. Identify the hazards from labels, safety data sheets and processes that give off dust, fumes, vapour, mist or gas. Assess who might be harmed, by which route (inhalation, skin contact or ingestion), how often and for how long. Control the risk, using a list that runs from elimination, process change and containment to systems of work, cleaning, personal protective equipment and training. The assessment should reach everyone who could be affected, including maintenance workers, contractors and visitors, and name further actions with an owner and a date. HSE says to review it when staff, processes, substances or equipment change, when controls look ineffective, and after accidents or near misses. Regulation 10 adds exposure monitoring where the assessment shows it is needed, with personal exposure records kept 40 years from the last entry and other monitoring records five years.

    COSHH sits beside REACH and does not replace it. HSE describes COSHH as the employer's duty to control exposure at its own site and process, and the REACH exposure scenario as the manufacturer's or importer's work for named tasks, passed on through the safety data sheet. Where a sheet does not cover your use, HSE says to give feedback to the supplier. That HSE page dates from 2009 and does not address Great Britain after it left the EU, so check current rules. This page is general information, not legal advice, and a site outside Great Britain needs its own jurisdiction's rules.

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    What a COSHH record holds in software

    • An assessment per substance and task, not per product name: who is exposed, by which route, how often, for how long and in what quantity.
    • The supplier information relied on, with the safety data sheet version and date, and any exposure limit that applies.
    • The controls chosen and the reasoning, including where elimination was considered and where protective equipment is used.
    • Actions with an owner and a due date, the next review date and the events that trigger an earlier one.
    • Monitoring results tied to the people they concern, so personal exposure records can be kept for the required period.
    • Health surveillance outcomes where the assessment calls for them, held apart as personal health data.

    COSHH, REACH and the safety data sheet

    A safety data sheet is supplier information, REACH is a regime for manufacturers and importers, and COSHH is the employer's assessment of exposure at a particular workplace. A sheet on file is an input to the assessment, not the assessment itself.

    A hypothetical example: a degreasing task changes solvent

    This scenario is invented and describes no real workshop or supplier. A small engineering workshop of eight employees cleans parts in a bench tank. Its assessment names the task, the solvent, the quantity used per shift, the people who do the work and the extraction in use, and cites the version of the safety data sheet it relied on. Because the workshop has five or more employees, it records its significant findings and the actions taken.

    The supplier then changes the solvent product. The new sheet gives a different exposure limit and hazard classification, and the register flags the assessment as resting on a superseded sheet. The manager reviews it before the new product is used, compares the limits, checks whether the existing extraction still gives adequate control and asks the supplier whether the sheet covers this cleaning method. The review date and decision are recorded, and the earlier assessment is kept.

    Common misunderstandings about COSHH

    • COSHH is not a product register. A list of chemicals and sheets is useful, but the Regulations ask for an assessment of the risk created by the work.
    • A safety data sheet does not discharge the duty. HSE treats the sheet as supplier information the employer uses, and says to feed back to the supplier when it does not cover your use.
    • The duty is not limited to bottled chemicals. HSE's steps refer to dust, fumes, vapour, mist and gas given off by processes, and the assessment has to take account of maintenance work.
    • Small employers are not exempt. The written record starts at five employees, but HSE says it still makes sense for smaller businesses to write down the steps they took.
    • An assessment is not finished once written. HSE lists changes, ineffective controls, worker concerns and near misses as reasons to review it.

    How COSHH relates to other glossary terms

    COSHH joins the hazard information that suppliers provide to the controls an employer uses.

    • REACH: the manufacturer and importer regime whose risk management measures arrive in the safety data sheet.
    • GHS: the classification and labelling system that produces the hazard information on labels and sheets.
    • SDS: the supplier document an assessment draws on.
    • Hierarchy of controls: the order of preference used when choosing how to control exposure.

    Records and evidence that usually exist for COSHH

    • The assessment for each substance and task, with its date and author.
    • The safety data sheets relied on, with their versions.
    • Monitoring results and the retention dates that apply to them.
    • Health surveillance records where required, held under tighter access.
    • Training and information records for the people exposed.
    • Review notes showing what triggered each reassessment.

    What a software tool needs to capture for COSHH

    • Assessments linked to a substance, a task and the people exposed, not only to a product.
    • A link from each assessment to the sheet version it relied on, with a flag when that sheet is replaced.
    • Review dates plus event triggers such as a process change, a new substance or an incident.
    • Action tracking with an owner and a due date.
    • Separate retention rules for exposure, monitoring and health records.
    • Role-based access to health surveillance data.
    • A history that keeps superseded assessments.

    Catalog profiles documenting SDS or chemical inventory records

    The list follows the SDS or chemical inventory rule. It does not show that a product records a COSHH assessment, exposure monitoring or health surveillance, which should be tested against a real substance and task.

    Same rule for every product: tagged “Chemical Management”, with a sourced SDS or chemical inventory capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. Documented and conditional capabilities qualify; check the linked scope before treating a module as included.

    Tekmon pays for a sponsored placement (above); its place in this list follows the same rule as every entry. How lists are ordered

    All 11 matching profiles are shown. Documentation review, not hands-on testing or a claim of compliance.

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    Frequently asked questions

    Do I need a COSHH assessment for cleaning products?

    HSE's steps start from the hazards shown on labels and safety data sheets, so a cleaning product that carries a hazard label falls within the process it describes. The effort needed depends on the hazard, the quantity and the way it is used.

    How long do COSHH records have to be kept?

    An assessment has no fixed life: it is reviewed and updated when circumstances change. Regulation 10 sets 40 years from the last entry for personal exposure monitoring records and five years for other monitoring records. Check the Regulations for health records and for your own situation.

    Does COSHH apply to a site in the United States?

    No. COSHH is made for Great Britain, and a US site looks to its own hazard communication rules. The shared definition on the glossary hub notes that the two sets of duties are not interchangeable.

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