About COSHH Risk Assessments
Anyone using chemicals or other hazardous substances at work is required to control exposure to hazardous substances and prevent ill health. Employers are required to protect both employees and others who may be exposed by complying with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) (as amended).
Failure to adequately control hazardous substances, means your employees or others may be adversely affected and become ill. Effects from hazardous substances range from mild eye irritation to chronic lung disease or, on occasions, death. The outcome for your business may:
- Result in lost productivity;
- Leave you liable to enforcement action, including prosecution under the COSHH Regulations;
- Result in civil claims from your employees
Hazardous substances come in many forms such as liquids, solids, gases, powders, dusts, bacteria, viruses, vapour and fumes. These can be found in most work environments such as, factories, laboratories, shops, offices, schools, hospitals, and farms etc. In our experience many employers do not understand the risks to their employees from working with hazardous substances and therefore fail to implement adequate controls.
The HSE have identified eight basic measures to follow in order to manage hazardous substances. The starting point focuses on ensuring that competent risk assessments have been completed, covering the risks to health from hazardous substances used in or created by your workplace activities.
MESH has helped a diverse range of organisations with both simple and complex COSHH assessments. We have experience of working in all of the work environments mentioned above (i.e. factories, laboratories, shops, offices, schools, hospitals, and farms), and many others as well.
So are you aware of what hazardous substances are used in your workplace? And do you have COSHH assessments that identify adequate controls to protect your workers and anyone else who may be affected by your activities?
Results you should expect
When your company is involved in handling hazardous substances, you need to have the confidence that your controls will effectively protect everyone who comes into contact with the hazardous substances. Working with MESH you can be fully assured that the COSHH assessments produced will identify the necessary protective controls to prevent harm to staff and others while ensuring full compliance with the COSHH regulations.
MESH Consultants have used our extensive experience in COSHH risk assessments to ensure peace of mind for clients in a wide range of industries throughout the UK. For companies also working with potentially explosive substances, we also provide DSEAR risk assessments.
Featured Case Study
Client: Soho Film Laboratories
Sector: Entertainment
This is the best report I've ever seen - very concise, and clearly identifies improvements required.
Paul Collard - Vice President of Film & Digital Services
MESH was approached in 2009 to undertake a full COSHH assessment on the operations of Soho Film Laboratories based in central London. This required a number of days spent on site to identify what controls were in operation for the hazardous substances in use and to determine how effective the controls actually were.
The survey undertaken resulted in a detailed report being produced that identified and action plan of improvements to be introduced; this was presented and discussed in detail with management. The report was supported by COSHH assessments covering all substances and processes. MESH has continued to provide guidance and support as the improvements have been introduced.
Your Options
MESH can offer a range of COSHH risk assessment options to organisations throughout the UK:
1. We undertake a full COSHH survey and produce the relevant COSHH compliant risk assessments to cover your operations.
2. We undertake a full COSHH survey and identify what COSHH risk assessments you would need to produce.
3. We can train persons within your organisation to undertake COSHH risk assessments.
What we provide is legislative COSHH compliance, which, when adhered to, will keep the HSE from your door.
Costs
Costs of COSHH risk assessments vary depending on the type and size of organisations, the volume and usage of hazardous substances, and the type of COSHH assistance you require.
As a guideline, fees for work recently undertaken have ranged from as little as £475 to £6,500 to develop the required level of compliance for individual organisations needs.
Our fees may not be the cheapest, and we would expect you to shop around for quotations, but you can be assured that our consultants are highly qualified and experienced and will ensure your compliance with the COSHH regulations.
Where we work
MESH carry out COSHH Risk Assessments for companies in a diverse range of industries throughout the UK.
Our Head Office is in Kent, with regional offices located in London, The Home Counties, The Midlands, and The North East.
