I've come across this kind of service being provided by Sevron.

Personally I hated it and didn't renew the subscription (still had to pay it for the year ahead as unknown to me this was in the contract that someone else had previously accepted), but it might meet your needs.

What I didn't like about it was the multi-page, colourful, impressive-looking but low-content COSHH assessment documents it spat out.  Also, there were quite a few gaps in its database of safety data sheets, in which case you had to get them for yourself.  However if the substances you are using are very ordinary this is less likely to be an issue.  Not sure it would cover hair products ...

I imagine they would give you a demo.

Thank you,  yes its an FE college and we do ask the curriculum areas to do their own COSHH risk assessments but we are trying to move to a central register for purchasing purposes and we have no idea what products we have across the sites, it makes it more of a challenge if we get a claim because then we are reliant on the areas providing us with the documentation.  We still would like them to do their own assessments but upload them to a central database in the same way we do our general risk assessments.  We had attended a webinar that mentioned software products that are linked to the manufactures sites for the most up to date data sheets and it looked an easier option but looking for the right software to use, ideally a recommendation, something cost effective but not over complicated and simple to use.

Hi Andrew

Seems to me that you could easily be asking exactly the same question but using the acronym PUWER (or LOLER) instead of COSHH.

As an organisation you need to know what you buy and how it is used.

So, supposing the claim comes in when the passenger lift collapses, unless you have the paperwork to show that it has been bought from a reputable supplier, and has been subject to the right maintenance, inspection and thorough examination you would be on a hiding to nothing.

Whether bringing in somebody outside to give you some proprietary software to assist you compile the relevant risk asessment documentation is perhaps doubtful.

...and I am even more doubtful that isolating COSHH from all the other risks is a good idea, not least since whoever is going to plug the information from SDSs to produce generic risk assessments doesn't know how you ACTUALLY use the various nasties that are bought (or the one that comes from the mains).

Now, if those in individual departments don't play ball, you do have a problem, but it's not the sort of problem that will miraculously go away by getting a software package.

As AK says what you need is effective document control.

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