Posted By Nigel Singleton BSc Does anyone have any thoughts on COSHH assessments? In the past I have always done COSHH assessments by chemical, however I currently have a client who has done their COSHH assessments by process, each assessment involving a number of chemicals. This technique cuts down on the number of assessments, but makes each assessment quite a long affair. I can see pros and cons for both arguments and wondered if anyone else has come across this process method of assessment before. Are there any draw backs to assessing by process?

Posted By Paul Price I work in the pharmaceutical industry as H&S officer. To answer your question is both need to be assessed this is because a chemical on its own may be inert but once used ibn a process it may become active with other chemicals ie; fumes / vapours along and painstaking process I know . I use the HSE COSHH essentials website for processes as you input the information from the MSDS .Here is the link http://www.coshh-essentials.org.uk/ I hope this is of some help. Regards Paul Price

Posted By Peter Longworth Paul, You got in there while I was in themiddle of typing

Posted By Paul Leadbetter Peter / Paul You are right to consider the hazards of the materials concerned but this should be done as part of a process-based assessment. Paul

Posted By gham The method I use is the chemical has to be considered in context and any COSHH assessment should reflect it Transport, Storage, Handling and process should all form part of the same assessment this could then be split up for example the person transporting may only be transporting, the person storing it may only be storing it and the person processing it may only be processing it as such they would possess the relevant part of the assessment. I also have a different assessment for each process a chemical may be involved in as they may react differently in different environments (eg: hot surfaces may cause thermal decomposition of vapours or gases resulting in further fumes and products not yielded by the process or desired reaction or cause further reactions of the by produces of a reaction) and with different chemicals. This is just the way I do it and it doesn't take as long as it would seem to but it is still a pain in the @rse If you have identified the Pros and Cons of each why not strike a happy medium using elements of both? G'

Posted By Paul Price Paul Fair comment Regards Paul

Posted By Jerry Lucey The major advantage in assessing by process is that you encounter the chemical/ substance in all its states. I would always assess by process but would advise that with more complex processes it may be worth splitting your assessment up into maneagable chunks. Why not split your process up into sub-processes for the more complex processes. You could use an audit of your chemicals as a tool to check that all chemicals have been risk assessed as part of your process risk assessments.