Posted By JWG May seem a silly question, but please can someone advise. Does a shop have to have a COSHH register for the domestic cleaning products that it sell? (I know they must have one for that they use) I would say not because staff are not exposed (unless there is a spillage, but then the spill procedure should take into consideration an array of foreseeable substances). Thanks in anticipation...

Posted By GeoffB4 Stephan I don't really understand the relevance of your remark relating to fire and COSHH? This is a retail environment where people make a living selling what others want to buy - so again your reference to alternatives seems to me not to be valid My answer to the original question is a generalised no if we are talking about generally available domestic products sold in supermarkets corners shops and the like. Geoff

Posted By Pete Longworth I think I agree with Geoff here. These are off the shelf items that can be bought anywhere. They aren't primarily intended for use in a work environment, they are domestic products. If they were being used by employees for cleaning purposes as part of their duties then maybe they should be included in a COSHH register, but as items on general sale, then I would say no they shouldn't.

Posted By Chris Packham "An employer shall not carry out any work which is liable to expose any employee to any substance hazardous to health unless he has:- (a) made a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk . . ." COSHH Regulation 6(1) What would be the situation were an employee to handle a container of a chemical, say bleach or oven cleaner, that was leaking and got the chemical on their hands? So in my opinion a simple risk assessment and the subsequent measures, probably regarding hand rinsing in such an emergency, first aid, etc. (as the risk will almost certainly be very low) would be advisable, if only so that in the event of an incident or during a visit by the local authority inspector you could demonstrate that you had complied with COSHH. Chris

Posted By Chris Packham Geoff I had to help a client where someone lifting a box of cleaning chemical (bleach) down from a shelf had spilt some, not just on their hands but on face (including eyes) and saturated their clothing, i.e. whole body exposure. The result was what could only be described as fairly extensive chemical burn on sensitive parts of their body! Fortunately with goodwill on all sides and prompt and appropriate treatment we were able resolve the situation without too much difficulty, but it does raise the question: "What if the employee had decided to be difficult and possibly even to report the incident to the HSE?" Yes, I probably am going further than most, but this is based on my experience in my particular field. Unfortunately I usually only get called in by employers when they have a skin problem, not before. It is frequently the case that the chemical in question was not one that they thought "hazardous" and an operation where they did not appreciate the potential for exposure. Chemicals that are clearly hazardous tend to be regarded with caution, it is the others that so often cause the problem. Chris

Posted By Chris Packham Geoff I am not suggesting that in a shop they need to risk assess every chemical. What I am suggesting is that it would be prudent for the shopkeeper to consider a generic assessment, i.e. what chemicals are we handling, what might these do if in contact due to spillage, etc., how can I ensure that working practice reduces any such risk and what would I do in an emergency. If you think that this is OTT, you should have seen the skin reaction of the poor worker whose case I cited. That employer now does take this seriously and has the appropriate generic risk assessment and suitable measures in place. The retail/service sector is actually one of the worst areas for occupational skin disease. Hairdressers and beauticians (and increasingly aromatherapy specialists) are the by far the worst occupations of all for occupational skin disease, closely followed by bakers and pastrycooks! Hairdressing is actually such a problem occupation that it is one of HSE's primary areas of concern at the moment. Chris

Posted By Chris Packham If you refer to COSHH Regulation 2(1) it does not limit itself to chemicals actually used in a particular task. COSHH merely uses the word "expose". In my view (and I checked this out with a lawyer specialising in health and safety matters) this would apply to someone handling a box of bleach and dropping this so that they were exposed. So in effect what I am saying is that technically and applying COSHH strictly, a shopkeeper with potentially hazardous chemicals would need to consider the risk of exposure and how this could be prevented. Chris

Posted By Crim Your answer may be contained in the following link. http://hse.gov.uk/risk/c...tudies/pdf/newsagent.pdf The HSE website has lots of sample risk assessments for a lot of different areas.