| Guvnor

What this means for your business

7 obligations

5 penalties

5 can imprison

14 guides

Enforced by: HSE, NRW
Applies to: United Kingdom
On this page: 7 compliance obligations, 14 practical guides across 3 topics

Read full text on legislation.gov.uk

What you must do

7 compliance obligations under this legislation — 5 can result in imprisonment.

Management duties 6

If you provide any safety equipment, protective gear or other control measures, you must make sure they are used correctly. Your staff must also use the equipment properly, return it after use and tell you immediately if they spot any fault. This keeps the workplace safe and helps you meet your legal duties under COSHH.

Employer s.8 HSE when a control measure, protective device or facility is provided to employees

If you provide any plant, equipment, ventilation, respirators or protective clothing to control hazardous substances, you must keep them in good working order, have them examined and tested at the right intervals, store and check PPE, replace anything defective and decontaminate contaminated items. You also need to keep clear records of all examinations, tests and repairs for at least five years.

Employer s.9 HSE

You must regularly check how much hazardous substance each worker is exposed to whenever your risk assessment says monitoring is needed, and again whenever anything changes that could affect exposure. You must keep records of those checks for the required retention periods, let employees see their own data, supply the records to the regulator on request, and notify the Executive immediately if you stop trading.

Employer s.10 HSE When the risk assessment shows monitoring is required to maintain control of …

If your business uses any substances that are hazardous to health, you must have written emergency plans, first‑aid facilities and regular safety drills ready to use when something goes wrong. You also need clear warning and communication systems, share the emergency information with internal or external rescue services, and display it where appropriate. In the event of an accident you must act immediately to contain the incident, limit who can enter the area, provide PPE and specialised equipment, and keep staff informed of what happened and how it will be fixed.

Employer s.13 HSE When hazardous substances are present in the workplace (unless a risk assessment …

If your business uses any substances that could harm health, you must either stop employees being exposed to them or, where that isn’t practical, put in place effective control measures. This means substituting safer substances where possible, using engineering controls, ventilation, safe storage and handling procedures, reducing the number of exposed workers, providing suitable PPE and hygiene facilities, and applying extra steps for carcinogens, mutagens or biological agents. All controls must keep exposure below legal limits and follow recognised good‑practice standards.

Employer s.7 HSE When substances hazardous to health are present in the workplace

If any of your staff are likely to be exposed to substances that could harm their health, you must arrange appropriate health checks and keep detailed health records for them. These records must be kept for at least 40 years, be available to the employee on request, and be provided to the regulator when asked. You also need to act on any medical advice that says an employee should not or only should work under certain conditions.

Employer s.11 HSE when employees are or may be exposed to hazardous substances (as listed …

Training 1

If any of your employees (or other people you engage) could be exposed to a substance that is hazardous to health, you must give them clear, adequate information, instruction and training. This includes details of the chemicals, the risks, safe work procedures, monitoring results, health‑surveillance summaries and any special rules for biological agents, and you must keep this information up‑to‑date and clearly label any unmarked containers or pipes.

Employer s.12 HSE When work may expose employees or other persons to a substance hazardous …