Level 2 Principles of COSHH Group Course

Description

Who needs it

Anyone who uses, handles, stores or is exposed to hazardous substances at work. That is a much wider group than people expect: cleaning teams, catering, engineering and workshops, printing, hairdressing and beauty, construction, agriculture, laboratories, care settings and anywhere with a dusty process.

The substances people forget are the ordinary ones. Cleaning chemicals, flour dust, wood dust, welding fume, solvents, and anything a process generates rather than something you bought in a container. COSHH covers substances created by work, not just substances delivered to it.

What COSHH actually requires

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 set a hierarchy that is worth stating plainly, because it is where most businesses go wrong: prevent exposure, and where that is not reasonably practicable, adequately control it.

Prevention comes first. Substituting a safer product, changing the process, or enclosing it all sit above personal protective equipment, which is the last resort and the one most workplaces reach for first. Handing out gloves and a mask is not a COSHH strategy; it is what you do when you have exhausted everything better.

Training sits inside that hierarchy rather than above it. This course makes sure people understand the substances they work with and the controls you have put in place. It does not substitute for putting those controls in place.

We set out the full duty, including what a COSHH assessment has to contain and where the common failures are, in what is COSHH.

What the course covers

• The scope of hazardous substances in the workplace, including those a process creates
• The range of legislation covering hazardous substances
• How hazardous substances adversely affect health, in the short and the long term
• Methods of identifying hazardous substances, including labelling and safety data sheets
• Sources of guidance available
• The range of control measures available for safe use
• The purpose and content of COSHH assessments

The health damage is the slow kind

This is why the course matters more than its length suggests. Safety incidents are immediate and visible. Occupational health damage from substances accumulates quietly over years, and by the time it declares itself it is usually permanent.

Occupational asthma, dermatitis, and the effects of long-term solvent and dust exposure do not produce an accident report on the day they are caused. That makes them easy to under-manage and easy for a workforce to dismiss, which is precisely what training is for.

How the group course works

Delivered at your premises, up to 16 learners with a minimum of 12 places chargeable. Book 16 and have 12 attend and the unused places are refunded; have eight attend and you are charged for 12.

On site is the right way to run this one, because the substances discussed can be the ones in your store cupboard, with your labels and your safety data sheets in the room. A generic session about generic chemicals changes very little.

If a trainer is coming to you anyway, Level 2 Health and Safety and manual handling are the usual companions.

Where it sits with your assessments

A COSHH assessment is a specialised assessment that sits underneath your general risk assessment. The general one, required by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and written down once you employ five or more people, identifies that you have hazardous substances. The COSHH assessment works through them in the detail those regulations demand.

Training your team does not produce either document. If the person who writes them needs the skill, that is Level 3 Risk Assessment, and workplace risk assessment explains how the pieces fit together.

Your certificate

Valid for three years. The awarding organisation is named on the certificate, and you are welcome to ask us which body issues it before booking. How to check a qualification is accredited explains what separates a regulated qualification from a certificate a company prints for itself.

Frequently asked questions

How long is a COSHH course?

A minimum of three hours of training, followed by a one-hour examination of 30 multiple choice questions.

What is the pass mark?

Twenty correct answers out of 30.

How long does the certificate last?

Three years.

Is COSHH training a legal requirement?

There is no named course in law. COSHH 2002 requires you to prevent exposure to hazardous substances or, where that is not reasonably practicable, adequately control it, and to provide suitable information, instruction and training. Training is one way of meeting part of that, and it comes after you have done what you can to remove or control the hazard.

Does COSHH cover dust and fumes?

Yes. Substances generated by a process are covered as much as products you buy in a container. Flour dust, wood dust and welding fume are all within scope and are among the most commonly underestimated.

Does this course produce our COSHH assessments?

No. It makes sure your team understands the substances and the controls. Writing the assessments is a separate skill, covered by Level 3 Risk Assessment.

Do you train at our premises?

Yes, and for this course it is much the better option, because the substances discussed can be your own with your own labels and safety data sheets to hand.

How many people can attend?

Up to 16, with a minimum of 12 places chargeable.

Is PPE enough to comply with COSHH?

No, and treating it as the answer is the commonest mistake. Personal protective equipment is the last resort in the hierarchy, below eliminating the substance, substituting something safer, changing the process and engineering controls.

Tell us what substances your team actually works with and how many people need training. Call 0845 838 4643 or use the enquiry form.