Folks

Does anyone have a simple COSHH assessment record that they could share. I know
there are 1000's of different types that you can use when you google them, however they
all seem complicated and you seem to be copying whats on MSDS.

eddie@bpmckeefry.com
eD

you got mail

This is an area that causes lots of confusion and different interpretations I find.

What I do is look at the substance first, then the intended use of that substance. Be it welding, leak repairs, painting etc.

Then I break it down to the hazards, human health risks, environmental risks.
Then list control measures for each area below, handling, isolation, PPE etc...
then followed by emergency procedures for each area and any specifics such as PPE.

Then staple it to the MSDS!

Oh dear! We are back to that old chesnut of risk assessment based on the safety data sheet. Please, no!
The safety data sheet is not designed for risk assessment but to meet the requirements of CHIP/REACH/CLP. It only lists those substances that are in the product as supplied and then only if they meet two basic criteria, i.e. they have a risk phrase/hazard statement and they are in the product above a certain concentration. Just read regulation 2(1) of COSHH and paragraph 13 of the COSHH ACoP and you will see that this is not adequate.
Presumably most employers purchase chemicals to use them. In the process they frequently change the nature of the chemical (mix, react, contaminate, heat, oxidise, dilute, etc., etc.) and this can change the nature of the hazard. So a risk assessment, particularly for skin exposure (which is also covered by COSHH), has to be based on the hazard of the chemical as used. This can be very different from what is on the safety data sheet (or sheets where two or more chemicals are mixed). There are also thousands of chemicals that have never been assigned a risk phrase/hazard statement but that, in contact with the skin, can cause occupational skin disease. I can name you several chemicals that are in common use and are recognised by dermatologists as common sensitisers, but which are neither R43 or H317. Just consider formaldehyde releasers. Not shown as formaldehyde on the safety data sheet (quite correctly) but can produce formaldehyde when used.

I can easily demonstrate using COSHH essentials how it is easy to produce a completely invalid risk assessment. "At present COSHH essentials is not well geared for dermal exposure risk assessment and control." - fromControlling SKin Exposure to Chemicals and Wet Work, by Rajadurai Sithamparanadarajah -Crown Copyright!

So identifying the correct hazard arising out of chemicals used in a particular task has to be the first step in any COSHH risk assessment. If you don't get the hazard right, what chance is there of your getting the risk assessment right?

Chris