Rank: New forum user 
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Has anyone got advice on whether 'generic' COSHH assessments would be a compliant/acceptable way of communicating hazards/risks/controls to front line staff rather than issuing dozens of similar COSHH assessments?
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Rank: Super forum user
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Assess the work process/work activity not each individual hazardous substance. Especially if the hazardous materials are fundamentally the same e.g. different coloured paint or grades of oil etc.
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Rank: Super forum user
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COSHH assessments, like all risk assessments, are about a process not a substance. If the process involves more than one substance or alternative substances then you put together an assessment that covers them all. This is not really a generic assessment as it is specific for a particular procedure. What your staff need to be trained to understand is, why chemicals are a serious workplace issue and why the controls that you propose while not obvious still need to be followed to ensure their long term health.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I agree that it is the process not the chemical that should be the subject of a COSHH assessment.
I would like to add that provision of COSHH assessments of any kind is not usually the best way to communicate the hazards, risks and controls of work with chemicals.
A properly done COSHH assessment produces a detailed and technical document which justifies the controls.
What the people exposed to the risks need is a straightforward work instruction that tells them about the hazards, risks and controls. This might be a separate document derived from the COSHH assessment, or this information could be incorporated in the instructions on how to do the task (eg in a lab environment, the test method document).
Edited by user 07 June 2018 17:33:51(UTC)
| Reason: added first para
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Rank: Super forum user
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I entirely agree with Kate. I always become anxious when people talk about 'generic' COSHH risk assessments. Different tasks may use the same chemicals in different ways resulting in the chemicals presenting different hazards for each task. A COSHH risk assessment must be specific for that task.
What the employee needs is not the, often detailed and complex, COSHH risk assessment but a simple explanation of the potential risks and the subsequent procedures to ensure that these are adequately managed for their benefit.
Chris
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I agree with everyone else - COSHH assessments should be task based not substance based. Its a mistake commonly made and leads people into producing dozens of very similar documents that people can't fight their way through. Prime example - car manufacturing plant where cars are sprayed in a variety of colours do you need a COSHH assessment for each colour or for the spraying task? Answer so long as the colours are all based on the same mix of solvents and resins and none of the colours contains a harmful pigment then you only need one assessment that references all the different colours.
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