COSHH assessment for the substances your people use
Practical COSHH assessments for chemicals, dusts and fumes at work, built from your product list and how each substance is really used.
A COSHH assessment looks at each hazardous substance your people use or create at work and decides how exposure will be prevented or controlled. Resilient Consult prepares COSHH assessments for cleaning and caretaking teams, contractors, workshops, schools and manufacturers. We work from your safety data sheets, but we also look at the task: how much is used, how often, by whom, in what space and with what ventilation and protective equipment. A data sheet alone is not an assessment, and filing them in a folder does not meet the duty.
Substances hazardous to health include more than labelled chemicals. Dust from cutting, sanding or drilling, fumes from welding or soldering, and biological agents can all fall within COSHH. We help you build an inventory, decide which substances need a full assessment, and write controls in plain language that supervisors can brief and check. Where a product can be swapped for a less hazardous one, we say so, because removing the hazard beats managing it.
Ask for a proposalWhat a COSHH assessment covers
Substance inventory
A list of the products and process substances on site, with locations, quantities and current data sheets.
Task-based assessment
An assessment of how each substance is used, including exposure route, duration, frequency and who could be affected.
Dusts, fumes and process hazards
Hazards created by the work itself, such as wood or silica dust and welding fume, as well as bought-in products.
Control measures
Controls in a sensible order: substitution, enclosure, ventilation, working practices, then suitable protective equipment.
Storage, spills and disposal
Arrangements for safe storage, spill response, first aid and emergency action, and disposal of waste and containers.
Monitoring and health surveillance needs
Whether exposure monitoring, LEV testing or health surveillance is required, and arranging them where it is.
What the COSHH Regulations require
Regulation 6 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 says an employer must not carry out work liable to expose employees to a hazardous substance unless they have made a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk and put the necessary steps in place. The assessment must consider the substance’s hazardous properties, supplier information including the safety data sheet, the level, type and duration of exposure, any workplace exposure limit, and the effect of control measures. HSE’s publication EH40 lists the workplace exposure limits that are legally binding under COSHH.
Where you employ five or more people, the significant findings and the steps taken to control exposure must be recorded. The assessment must be reviewed regularly, and straight away if it may no longer be valid, the work changes significantly or monitoring shows it is needed. Local exhaust ventilation must be thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months under regulation 9. Asbestos and lead are covered by their own regulations, so we deal with those separately.
What you receive
- COSHH register of substances by location
- Individual COSHH assessments with controls and PPE
- Plain-language summary sheets for operatives
- Storage, spill and emergency arrangements
- Recommendations on substitution with less hazardous products
- Advice on monitoring, LEV testing and health surveillance
- Review schedule and record of changes
How it runs
Collect product information
You send a product list and current safety data sheets, and we flag any that are missing or out of date.
See the work
We visit to see how substances are stored, mixed, applied and cleared up, and talk with the people who use them.
Write the assessments
We prepare the register and assessments, ranking substances by risk so the highest priorities get attention first.
Brief and review
We provide briefing sheets for staff and set review dates, updating the assessments when products or processes change.
How we handle COSHH for you
You get one contact at Resilient Consult for the whole job, from collecting data sheets to briefing staff, and the COSHH assessments can sit within your wider risk assessments and RAMS rather than in a separate folder nobody opens. If you take out retained support, we keep the register up to date as products change.
Some COSHH duties need specialist measurement. Workplace air monitoring, thorough examination of local exhaust ventilation and occupational health surveillance are arranged through vetted specialist partners who hold the relevant qualifications and certification for that work, and you see the reports. We check what comes back and update your assessments to match.
Who we do this for
Related health and safety services
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Questions about COSHH assessments
All questionsIs a safety data sheet the same as a COSHH assessment?
No. A safety data sheet is supplier information about a product: its hazards, handling and emergency measures. A COSHH assessment applies that information to your work, looking at how much you use, how, where, by whom and with what controls. The data sheet is an important input, and the law requires you to consider it, but it cannot tell you whether your particular use of the product is adequately controlled.
Do we need a COSHH assessment for everyday cleaning products?
Many household-strength products used as directed carry little risk, and the assessment for them can be short. Commercial cleaning chemicals are often more concentrated and may be decanted, mixed or used in poorly ventilated spaces, which changes the picture. We look at every product on your list, then focus detailed assessments on those that present real risk, so the paperwork stays proportionate.
Does COSHH cover dust from construction work?
Yes. Dusts created by the work, such as silica from cutting concrete, brick or stone, and wood dust from sanding and machining, are substances hazardous to health and need assessing like any bought-in product. Controls such as on-tool extraction, water suppression and suitable respiratory protective equipment are central to these assessments. Asbestos is the exception: it is covered by its own regulations and our asbestos survey service.
How often should COSHH assessments be reviewed?
The regulations say regularly, and straight away if the assessment may no longer be valid, the work changes significantly or monitoring results show a review is needed. In practice that means reviewing when you change a product or process, after any related ill health or incident, and on a set cycle otherwise. We put a review date on each assessment and can manage the reviews for you under retained support.
Who actually carries out the surveys and works?
We scope, manage and check every job ourselves. Specialist parts, such as fire surveys and remedial works, asbestos surveys, legionella assessments, training and alarm installations, are carried out through vetted specialist partners who hold the relevant qualifications and third-party certification for that work. You see their certificates. We remain your single point of contact and check both the work and the paperwork before it reaches you.
Do you work with contractors?
Yes. We help contractors with risk assessments and method statements, COSHH assessments, written policies and preparation for SSIP schemes such as CHAS, SafeContractor and Constructionline. On projects we can support clients and principal contractors with CDM duties, and we work alongside main contractors when managing fire remedials, so the people on site have clear information and the right paperwork before they start.
Tell us what you need.
What it is, where it is and what you need checked, fixed or managed. You get a scope and a written proposal back.
- adrian@resilientconsult.uk
- Based
- Wigan-based, working across the North West