Are you protected? – Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH)

Apart from the pain and suffering, there is also a high economic price to be paid for all this occupational ill health. Employees and their families lose earnings, employers lose money from reduced productivity and lost production, accidents cause disruption and prosecution and civil actions can be very expensive. The nation as a whole has to pay for the sickness benefit and National Health Service care involved. THE COSHH Regulations 2002 (COSHH) help protect people in the workplace against health risks from hazardous substances. The substances may be used directly in the work (e.g. cleaning chemicals, chemical reagents) or may arise from work activities (e.g. dusts, fumes and waste products). Substances hazardous to health in woodworking include:
– hardwood and softwood dust;
– dusts from hardboard, plywood, MDF, timber laminates etc;
– adhesives, paints, stains, varnishes, stripping fluids etc;
– lubricants;
– disinfectants to treat water systems COSHH requires the following:
– Assessment of the risks
– Deciding what precautions are needed
– Prevention or control of the risks
– Ensuring that control measures are used and maintained
– Monitoring exposure and health surveillance, where necessary
– Informing, instructing and training employees about the risks and precautions needed BWF has produced an extensive range of simple easy to follow information guides which will help you safeguard yourselves and your employees.   These now include:
 
– COSHH Assessment sample
– Michael.lee@bwf.org.uk