New COSHH and lead Regs implemented

New Regulations covering the control of hazardous substances and lead at work came into force on 21 November 2002.

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 20021 (COSHH) and the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 20022 (CLAW) replace COSHH 1999 and CLAW 1998. All four sets of Regulations impose duties on employers to protect employees and others who may be exposed to substances hazardous to health, including lead, and duties on employees to protect themselves from exposure.

The 2002 Regulations are required to implement the health requirements of the chemical agents Directive (98/24/EC)3 that are not already covered in domestic legislation. The Directive's provisions on safety risks, such as from fire and explosions, will be implemented by new Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations in the near future. Provisions on asbestos have been implemented by the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 (see Workplace asbestos survey set for 2004).

Most of the changes to COSHH and CLAW simply make explicit what was previously implicit in the legislation and Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs). The HSE believes that, despite the numerous changes, employers that are complying with the old Regulations and ACoPs will be largely compliant with their replacements.

But the new Regulations do make some substantive changes in that they:

  • extend the matters to be considered when carrying out an assessment of the risk from exposure to substances hazardous to health (reg. 6, COSHH) and from lead, and require that for lead the assessment is reviewed regularly and, in some circumstances, quickly (reg. 5, CLAW);

  • detail the measures that the employer must take to prevent or adequately control the exposure of its employees to substances hazardous to health and lead (reg. 7, COSHH and reg. 6, CLAW);

  • provide for further duties in respect of care and decontamination of personal protective equipment (reg. 9, COSHH and reg. 8, CLAW);

  • provide for the keeping of an individual record of air monitoring where an employee is required to be under health surveillance (reg. 10, COSHH) or medical surveillance (reg. 9, CLAW);

  • extend the duties on employers with respect to health surveillance where an employee is found to have an identifiable disease or adverse health effect caused by exposure to a substance hazardous to health (reg. 11, COSHH), and extend the circumstances in which an employee must be under medical surveillance, and the duties imposed upon the employer, where the blood-lead concentration or urinary lead concentration of an employee reaches the appropriate suspension level (reg. 10, CLAW);

  • introduce a duty to ensure that the contents of containers and pipes for substances hazardous to health (reg. 12(5), COSHH) and lead (reg. 11(5), CLAW) used at work are clearly identifiable; and

  • introduce a duty on the employer to prepare procedures, provide information and establish warning systems to deal with emergencies in the workplace related to substances hazardous to health (reg. 13, COSHH) and lead (reg. 12, CLAW).

    Further changes have been made to the COSHH Regulations to make clear they apply to biological agents, whether or not exposure to these agents is deliberate, such as for laboratory workers, or incidental, such as for sewage workers, cleaners and farmers. To this end, the 2002 Regulations extend the meaning of "work" in the HSW Act to include any activity involving the consignment, storage or use of a Group 2, 3 or 4 biological agent. They also transfer certain provisions relating to biological agents that had been in schedule 3 of the 1999 Regulations to regs. 7 and 12.

    Extensively revised ACoPs will support the new Regulations. The new COSHH ACoP will include an appendix providing guidance on the control of substances that cause occupational asthma, which the HSC approved last year as part of its current asthma initiative (HSB 303).

    1"The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002", SI 2002 No.2677, Stationery Office, ISBN 0 11 042919 2, £4.50 or www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/20022677.htm, free .

    2"The Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002", SI 2002 No.2676, Stationery Office, ISBN 0 11 042917, £3, or www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/20022676.htm, free.

    3"Council Directive 98/24/EC on the protection of the health and safety of workers from risks related to chemical agents at work (14th individual Directive within the meaning of article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)", OJ L131, 5/5/98.