COSHH Regulations 2002 · Great Britain # A COSHH assessment, from the sheet the supplier already gave you. > COSHH assessment: what it must record, when you need one & how to do it step by step, or start from the supplier safety data sheet. > Web page: https://complyonsite.com/coshh-assessment Under COSHH 2002 the risk is assessed before the work starts. Most of the facts an assessment needs are already on the supplier’s safety data sheet. [START FROM THE SAFETY DATA SHEET](https://complyonsite.com/tools/safety-data-sheet-to-excel-converter) [HOW TO DO ONE](https://complyonsite.com/coshh-assessment/how-to) ![A COSHH assessment record for white spirit on a phone: DANGER, what not to start without, first aid, and the controls for the job.](https://complyonsite.com/coshh-assessment/record-phone.png) Coming soon: the finished assessment, as your crew reads it on a phone. ## One of these on the tin? COSHH applies. Tap any symbol for what it means. - Harmful · irritant Skin, eye or airway irritation. The one on most tins in the store. - Corrosive Burns skin and eyes on contact. Cement, brick acid, strong cleaners. - Serious health hazard Long-term damage: lungs, organs, sensitisation, cancer. The one people ignore. - Toxic Harmful or fatal in small amounts. Rare on site, serious anywhere. ### No pictogram on it? That is not a free pass. The work itself can create the hazard. Silica dust from cutting, wood dust, welding fume: no tin, no label, no safety data sheet, and they are among the most harmful substances on a site. They need assessing the same way. [HSE’s guidance](https://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/) covers the work-created hazards, and the six steps are the same. [APPLIES TO YOU? WALK THE SIX STEPS](https://complyonsite.com/coshh-assessment/how-to) ## Five things, or it is not an assessment. 1. ### The substance, and the sheet it came from Product name, supplier, the hazard statements on the label, and which revision of the safety data sheet you read. 2. ### The job, not the product The same solvent used two ways is two exposures, and each needs its own controls. Say what the task is, who does it, how much, how often, and where — indoors changes the answer. 3. ### How people could be exposed Breathing it in, skin, eyes, swallowing. Only the routes that apply to this job, and each one has to be dealt with by something. 4. ### The controls, best first Stop using it, swap it, engineer it out, change the way of working — protective equipment last, because it only works when it is worn correctly every time. Then whether the job needs exposure monitoring or health surveillance. 5. ### What to do when it goes wrong, and who signed it First aid, spills, fire. Then the name of the person accountable, the date, and when it gets looked at again. [SEE THE SIX STEPS](https://complyonsite.com/coshh-assessment/how-to) There is no official form, only these five answers, in order, free. ## Nothing gets retyped. The tool reads the sheet. Every fact carries the page it came from, and nothing counts until a person confirms it. ![One fact on the checking screen: the hazard statements H314, H318 and H335 the tool read, with the line 'Read from page 1, section 2.2' underneath.](https://complyonsite.com/coshh-assessment/fact-and-source.png) The checking screen, unedited. Hazard statements read from a real supplier sheet, and the line that says exactly where. ## The six steps, in order. - ### How to do one Six steps, in the order the work happens. ## The questions people actually ask. ### Is a COSHH assessment a legal requirement? Yes. Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended), an employer whose work involves a hazardous substance must assess the risk before the work starts and put controls in place. The duty sits with the employer, or with a self-employed person for their own work. ### One per substance, or one per project? Per substance, per task. The same solvent wiped onto skirting in a closed flat and used outdoors on scaffolding are different exposures with different controls, and the assessment has to cover each one. ### Who is allowed to do one? Someone competent to judge the risk: they understand the work, they can read the safety data sheet, and they know what the controls actually achieve. Competence is about knowledge and experience, not a certificate. The person who signs it is accountable for it. ### How long is an assessment valid? There is no fixed expiry in law. Reassess when the substance, the method, the controls or the people change, when the supplier issues a new safety data sheet, and at a planned interval. Annually is the common practice. ### Can I just use a template I found online? A blank is a fine place to start, and there is one on this site. What will not stand up is a completed assessment for a substance and a job that are not yours. The facts have to come from the sheet in your store and the work your crew is actually doing. ### Does a safety data sheet count as a COSHH assessment? No. The safety data sheet is the supplier’s description of the substance. The assessment is your judgement about your job with it: who is exposed, how, and what you are doing about it. ## Start from the sheet. Upload the supplier’s safety data sheet and get its hazards, ingredients and sections in an Excel workbook. Then write the assessment in six steps. [START FROM THE SAFETY DATA SHEET](https://complyonsite.com/tools/safety-data-sheet-to-excel-converter) [HOW TO DO ONE](https://complyonsite.com/coshh-assessment/how-to)