Creating an environment that is safe for your employees is part of your duty of care as an employer. Part of the strategy that should be followed when creating a safe working environment is the proper implementation of health and safety regulations. For example, this may involve looking for the proper equipment, from somewhere like Platforms and Ladders to ensure that your employees can remain safe whilst completing somewhat dangerous tasks in a warehouse or similar vicinities. As well as this though, COSHH is one of the main areas that you should look at when improving the safety of your workplace and it is essential in proper legal compliance.

COSHH stands for (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations) and is the main regulatory tool used to ensure that dangerous substances are being properly handled within the workplace. Creating awareness around the substances that fall under the COSHH regulations in your workforce will help your employees work in a safer way which benefits them and your business. Here we show you why COSHH is so important for your business.

1. COSHH helps you look deeper into the materials that you are using

We can often get bogged down in the process that we are working in and do not question how they can be improved. This is a potentially dangerous mistake when it comes to the substances you use in the workplace. COSHH forces you to consider the materials that you use and whether they could be removed from the production process altogether for a safer product.

2. Control measures can be measured with COSHH risk assessments

In addition to looking at the materials, COSHH also gives you a chance to look at the control measures you have in place. A risk assessment can give you valuable insight into the protective steps you have taken and whether they are really working. For example, any open spaces where there could be a risk of a fall should be combatted with equipment like safety swing gates as this would be high on a risk assessment chart.

3. COSHH compliance is necessary throughout the business operations

It is also worth noting that COSHH compliance is important not just on the factory floor, but the office, the warehouse, lorry, and any area that the relevant substances are present in. This is important because you need to not only consider the danger of a substance in a certain setting, you need to look at its implementation across the whole business.

4. You can assess your current tools with the help of COSHH

COSHH also gives you the chance to look at the suitability of the tools you are currently using to handle and control the substances. A properly conducted COSHH risk assessment will help you evaluate any deterioration in the tools/equipment and whether they need to be replaced for newer models. If they don’t need replacing, they may benefit from being repaired. For example, if your location uses a forklift, you could consider a forklift repair before deciding to replace the model altogether. This assessment will suggest the best course of action.

Create a learning approach to the COSHH regulations

When many managers are implementing COSHH they look at it from a purely regulatory stance. Whilst this will do enough to ensure they are legally compliant, it will not help them improve the safety of their operations in the long run. This is why you need to view the implementation of COSHH as a good chance to learn more about your operations and how they can be improved.

Giving your workers an understanding of the COSHH symbols can be a good way to start this process.