Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002
Legislation
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) came into force on 21 November 2002. They make numerous changes to COSHH 1999, including the following:
- A new duty on employers to develop procedures, provide information and establish warning systems to deal with emergencies involving hazardous substances.
- The requirement for employers to carry out a risk assessment has been extended to specify the factors that must be considered, including hazardous properties, information on health effects, and potential for high exposure levels.
- New definitions have been added, including definitions for "control measure", "hazard", "health surveillance", and "personal protective equipment".
- The measures required for controlling hazardous substances are specified and assigned priority in the new regulations.
- New specific requirements have been added for the care and maintenance of personal protective equipment.
- If an employee is required to be under health surveillance, there is now an additional requirement for the employer to keep an individual record for air monitoring for them.
- There is a new duty on employers to ensure that contents of containers and pipes for substances hazardous to health used at work are clearly identifiable.
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