OVERVIEW
This course raises awareness of the risks associated with hazardous substances and the practical steps that can be taken to manage them, so that you understand your legal responsibilities and can carry out your job safely. Hazardous substances are present in almost every workplace — from cleaning products, paints, adhesives and solvents to dusts, fumes, gases and biological agents generated by ordinary work activities. They cause a substantial burden of avoidable ill health in Great Britain every year, much of it serious, irreversible and, in some cases, fatal. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that around 12,000 deaths each year from lung disease are linked to past exposures at work, and that roughly 22,000 new cases of work-related breathing or lung problems arise each year (HSE work-related ill-health statistics). Conditions such as occupational asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), occupational cancers, contact dermatitis and chemical burns are all linked to exposure to substances at work.
The crucial point is that almost all of this harm is preventable when the right controls are identified and used. The course explains how hazardous substances harm the body, the law that applies (chiefly the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, known as COSHH), how to identify hazardous substances using CLP labels and safety data sheets, how a COSHH assessment is carried out, and how the hierarchy of control is used to prevent or adequately control exposure. It also covers your own responsibilities as a worker — using the controls provided, following safe systems of work, attending health surveillance and reporting defects or concerns. This is an awareness-level course suitable for all employees who work with, or may be exposed to, hazardous substances, and for the supervisors and managers who oversee them. It does not qualify you to write COSHH assessments on its own, but it gives you the understanding needed to work safely, to interpret a COSHH assessment that applies to your task, and to play your part in protecting your own health and that of your colleagues.
