EUSR Approved Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Awareness

This EUSR COSHH Awareness course covers the essential knowledge needed to recognise hazardous substances and control the risks:

What COSHH Covers

• What counts as a hazardous substance: chemicals, dusts, fumes, vapours, gases and biological agents
• Common examples on utility and construction sites, such as cement, silica dust, solvents, fuels, welding fumes, chlorination chemicals and sewage
• What COSHH does not cover (asbestos, lead and radioactive substances have their own regulations)

Health Effects

• How substances enter the body: breathing in, skin contact, swallowing and through cuts or injection
• Short-term and long-term effects, including dermatitis, asthma, lung disease, cancer and infections such as leptospirosis (Weil’s disease)
• Why some effects take years to appear

The Law and Your Duties

• The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended)
• Employer duties: assessing risks, controlling exposure, providing information and training, and health surveillance
• Employee duties: following safe systems of work, using controls and PPE properly, and reporting problems
• Workplace exposure limits (HSE guidance EH40)

Hazard Information

• Hazard pictograms and product labels
• Using safety data sheets

Risk Assessment and Control Measures

• How a COSHH risk assessment works and why it matters to you
• The hierarchy of control, from elimination and substitution to engineering controls and PPE
• Choosing, wearing and looking after PPE and RPE, including why face-fit testing matters
• Safe storage, handling and disposal

Emergencies

• Dealing with spills, leaks and accidental exposure
• First aid basics and reporting incidents