COSHH Management: How UK Businesses are managing the challenge

These findings highlight the need for management to implement more robust COSHH management strategies and better internal training that educates both employers and employees about the importance of protecting themselves against hazardous substances, including cleaning products, manufacturing by-products and construction materials. 

The survey, which questioned over 130 UK companies across a variety of industries, found that a lack of perceived threat from hazardous substances was the biggest barrier to increasing awareness. The second most significant barrier was a lack of awareness and education among staff members, as identified by 29% of companies. 

While a basic understanding of hazardous substance management is assumed of health and safety professionals, there is undoubtedly a requirement to better educate the wider workforce of the potential risks they face should reliable COSHH processes not be in place. 

Moyna Merrison, Director at Alcumus Sypol says: “The findings highlight that more training needs to be carried out internally to ensure employees understand the reasoning behind certain processes and the risks they face from harmful workplace hazards. It only takes one member of staff to perform a task in a non-compliant manner to potentially put others at risk.”

As well as training on processes, employers need to ensure they are educating their workers on the health implications they could face from exposure to the chemicals they use day to day. This includes cleaners, factory workers and engineers, who are exposed to a number of different chemicals ranging from bleach and paint to dust and gases, and need to understand why systems are in place to protect them.  What’s more, employers need a better understanding of what managing their COSHH responsibilities entail and how often they should be doing it; simply creating a one-off list of chemicals within a business and how to use them isn’t sufficient.  The management of harmful substances should be considered as important as other facilities management and a continuing process should be adopted to ensure safety of all employees. 

Proactive rather than reactive 

The Alcumus Sypol survey also found that one of the key drivers for companies investing in a COSHH strategy is the threat posed by near misses and incidents. This illustrates that UK businesses need to be far more proactive when investing in COSHH management rather than waiting for accidents to occur. As general health and safety awareness increases around topics such including working at height, mental health, hearing and eye protection, clearly COSHH management is still an area that needs improving in terms of education and prevention.  The adoption of a COSHH management system will also help raise employee morale and productivity. 

“The problem we have with awareness surrounding COSHH management is that the effects of exposure, unless the chemical is flammable or erosive, won’t be detected until much later. Occupational lung disease kills 12,000 people every year. While awareness levels are definitely increasing across businesses, there is undoubtedly plenty of room for improvement. Staff education is key to saving lives and reducing the impact of work-related health problems which may not surface fully for another decade or so. Just because a worker doesn’t become ill overnight, doesn’t mean that the threat is any less real – companies must take a proactive approach to training their staff so that they are fully aware of the risks they face every day and can take preventative measures to mitigate them,” concludes Moyna. 

For more information regarding Alcumus Sypol and to download its latest whitepaper that explores the survey in more detail please visit: www.alcumusgroup.com/hazardous-substance-management