What is a “substance hazardous to health”?
COSHH covers
COSHH Essentials sets out basic advice on what to do to control exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace. It takes the form of straightforward advice in ‘factsheets’ called ‘control guidance sheets’. There are two types of sheets, industry-specific ‘direct advice sheets’ and ‘generic control guidance sheets’.
First check the direct advice sheets listed by industry to see if there are any direct advice sheets for tasks or processes in your industry. If your industry is not listed don’t worry, you can use our e-tool to identify which generic control guidance sheets are appropriate.
COSHH covers substances that are hazardous to health. Substances can take many forms and include:
- chemicals
- products containing chemicals
- fumes
- dusts
- vapours
- mists
- nanotechnology
- gasesand asphyxiating gases and
- biological agents(germs). If the packaging has any of the hazard symbols then it is classed as a hazardous substance.
- germs that cause diseases such as leptospirosis or legionnaires disease and germs used in laboratories.