EUROPEAN COSHH.Health and Safety

1. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Founded in 1992
Different theme every year
Promotes safe and healthy
work across all European
Member States
Coordinated by European
Agency for Safety and Health
based in Bilbao
Run in the UK by Health and
Safety Executive (HSE)

2. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Why Dangerous
Substances?
The worldwide picture:
•Approx 825,000 deaths from work
related illness every year
•160 million live with an industrial
disease

3. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Across Europe:
•350 million working days lost
•7 million victims of industrial disease
•1 in 6 workers handle dangerous
substances
•1 in 5 report breathing in fumes and
vapours
•1 in 4 exposed to cancer-causing
agents

4. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
In the UK
•575,000 people made ill by exposure to dangerous
substances
•66,000 with a work related skin disease
Every year
•7,000 people contract occupational asthma
•6,000 people die from work related cancer including
•5000 deaths from past asbestos exposure

5. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Dangerous Substances
Allergens – causes of allergic reactions
Biological agents – bacteria, virus, parasites and fungi
Carcinogens – cancer causing agents
Mineral dusts causing cancers and respiratory disease
Vegetable dusts causing asthma, allergic reactions and Toxic
cancers
Toxic chemicals and agents causing neurological and
reproductive disorders, cancers and poisoning.
Corrosive

6. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
UK Law covering dangerous substances at work includes
•Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
•Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
•Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977
•Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002

7. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
Employers must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the
health, safety and welfare at work of their employees.
This includes the
‘safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use,
handling, storage and transport of articles and substances’.
(HSW 74 Part 1 Section 2b)

8. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Assess the risks to which employees are exposed at work.
Ensure employers comply with all health and safety laws and regulations.
Comply with the law on the basis of the general ‘principles of prevention’

9. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Safety Representative & Safety
Committees Regulations 1977
Trade Union Safety Representatives have the legal right to:
• Investigate potential hazards at work and investigate complaints by
any employee they represent relating to that employee's health,
safety or welfare at work;
•Inspect the workplace at least once every three months or when the
Health and Safety Executive publish new information relevant to the
hazards found in the workplace.
•Inspect and take copies of any document relevant to the workplace
or to the employees the Safety Rep represents. This includes copies
of COSHH and risk assessments.

10. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Control of Substances Hazardous
to Health Regulations 2002
‘An employer shall not carry out work which is liable to expose any
employees to any substance hazardous to health unless he has made a
suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk created by that work to the
health of those employees and of the steps that need to be taken to meet
the requirements of these Regulations;’
(COSHH Regulation 6,1a)

11. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Control of Substances Hazardous
to Health Regulations 2002
The requirements of these regulations include
‘that the exposure of his employees to substances hazardous to
health is either prevented or, where this is not reasonably
practicable, adequately controlled.’
(COSHH Regulation 7,1)

12. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Control of Substances Hazardous
to Health Regulations 2002
Employers must, where reasonably practicable, eliminate
completely the use or production of substances hazardous to
health in the workplace.
This might be achieved by:
(a) changing the method of work
(b) modifying the process
(c) substituting with a non-hazardous substance
Where prevention of exposure to substances hazardous to health is
not reasonably practicable, employers must comply to adequately
control exposure.
From COSHH Regulation 7

13. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Hierarchy of Controls
1. Elimination: the best way to reduce the risks from dangerous
substances is to remove the need to use them by changing the
process or product in which the substance is used.
2. Substitution: substitute the dangerous substance with a less
hazardous one or change the process to reduce the risks if
elimination is not possible.
3. Control: if a dangerous substance process cannot be eliminated
or substituted then exposure must be prevented or controlled.

14. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Control Methods
•Enclosing the process emitting the dangerous substance.
•Changing the management of the process to better control
emissions.
•Utilising technical solutions to minimise concentration of
dangerous substances in the exposure zone.
•Organisational measures such as minimising the number
of workers exposed and the duration and intensity of
exposure.
•Use of Personal Protective Equipment [always the last resort].
[Source: European Agency for safety and Health at Work]

15. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
The TUC ESCAPE Route from Dangerous Substances
Eliminate
Substitute
Control
And
Prevent
Exposure

16. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
TUC ESCAPE Route
DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE
ELIMINATE
Can you stop using or producing the substance?
Can you stop the process or use a different method?
YES
NO
Do you need to use caustic soda if elbow grease will do
the job?
Would you need to grind down components if the first cut
was accurate?
NEXT
Do you need to keep motor vehicle engines running while
STEP
stationary at the depot?
SUBSTITUTE
Can you replace a diesel vehicle with an electric one?
PREVENT
EXPOSURE

17. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
TUC ESCAPE Route
DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE ELIMINATE
NO
SUBSTITUTE
Can you use safe alternatives?
Can you use a safe process?
YES
Do you need to use chemical cleaners if soap and water will do the job?
Can you use a vacuum instead of sweeping?
Can your supplier provide you with safer chemicals with a similar
performance?
Can you obtain raw materials in solid pellet form instead of a dusty
powder?
NO
PREVENT
EXPOSURE
NEXT STEP CONTROL

18. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
TUC ESCAPE Route
ELIMINATE SUBSTITUTE
DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE
NO
CONTROL
Can you separate people from the substance? YES
Can you reduce exposure to a safe level?
For example:
Can you restrict chemical cleaning to when the least workers
are on site?
Can you use water when cutting or grinding to create sludge
instead of dust?
Can you contain the process in a sealed vessel?
PREVENT
Can you restrict access to the environment through a safe EXPOSURE
system of work?

19. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
TUC ESCAPE Route
DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE
YES
ELIMINATE
NO
SUBSTITUTE YES
NO
YES
CONTROL
PREVENT EXPOSURE

20. European Week for Safety
and Health at Work 2003
Summary
Exposure to dangerous substances:
•Kills thousands of workers
•Causes disease in millions of others
•Is illegal
•Is preventable
Follow the TUC ESCAPE Route to Eliminate Substitute Control
and Prevent Exposure to Dangerous Substances