COSHH Assessments – 7 key questions

  In my last post I discussed the main problems that I often encounter with how COSHH assessments are carried out in practice. These were concentrating on the hazards rather than the risks neglecting to include process generated substances concentrating on inhalation exposures and neglecting other routes lack of emphasis on controls failure to consider

Common problems with COSHH assessments

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) are undoubtedly the most important legal requirements for occupational hygienists working in Great Britain. They’ve been around for a long time now – the first version being enacted in 1988 – yet, in my experience, there are still many organisations that haven’t completely got to grips

Key steps to control health hazards

At the end of June I was invited to make a presentation to the BOHS workshop on the control of health hazards at work. The key points made are summarised in a previous post. I’ve finally got round to uploading the slides I used to Slideshare. These days I try not to overload my presentations

Reconsidering the “hierarchy of control”– Part 2

In a recent post I discussed the basis of the hierarchy of control and how it should be applied in practice. It’s something we cover when we deliver the BOHS module M103 “Controlling hazardous substances” and is also relevant to the control of physical hazards such as noise and vibration. During the M103 course I’ll

What’s a thorough examination and test?

Companies that have installed local exhaust ventilation systems have to undertake a “thorough examination and test” (TExT) at least once every 14 months. The objective of the TExT is to find any significant defects and to have them remedied to regain control. In most cases they will employ an external organisation to carry out these

Key steps to control exposure to health hazards at work

Last week I travelled over to Derby to attend a workshop organised by Mark Piney, the new BOHS “topic lead” on control of exposure. The objective was to explore the key issues on control that BOHS could be working on, and to try to decide on priorities. The workshop started by exploring the experiences and

COSHH Essentials

COSHH Essentials is a tool developed by the UK Health and Safety Executive. It’s a “control banding” technique which was originally intended to help small companies, without access to expert help, determine what controls are needed to control exposure to the hazardous substances they use or handle. It was originally published as a “hard copy”

To test or not to test?

I recently received the following query from a client: “I have come across various items of equipment which appear to have integral LEV types of arrangement ……..  All have been introduced to reduce the level of dust or chemical that may have a deleterious effect on the user of the equipment.  I am unsure if

Skin Exposure and COSHH Assessments

Recently I’ve been working with a client on a review of their COSHH assessment protocol. Many of their processes involve the handling of lubricants, sealants and adhesives which have a low volatility and present only a minimal risk from inhalation. The main risk of exposure is from skin contact. However we found that their COSHH assessment

Visualising Airflow

It can be difficult to make a qualitative evaluation of the effectiveness of LEV hoods because the contaminants are either invisible (in the case of most gases and vapours) or difficult to see (with fine dusts). Two main techniques can be used to overcome this problem: smoke tests dust lamps Smoke released in the vicinity