Educational guidance on how workplace induction and safety instruction generally work — connected to workplace safety, occupations, industries, employment documents and company types. Informational only — not certified training, not an official qualification and not a substitute for mandatory workplace instruction; employers remain responsible for required training, competence and authorisation.
What this instruction covers
This page outlines, in general educational terms, the safety information around the control of substances hazardous to health — what a COSHH-style assessment looks at, the order in which exposure is controlled, and what it means for workers.
It is awareness material, not a substitute for the employer’s actual assessments or the task-specific instruction on the substances in your workplace.
What substances are covered
- Chemicals, products, dusts, fumes, mists, vapours, gases and biological agents that can harm health.
- Substances given a hazard classification, and those that become hazardous in use — such as fumes and dusts created by a process.
- It does not cover certain substances with their own separate rules, such as asbestos, lead and radiation.
- The point is any substance that can cause harm to health through work.
Who this is for
- Workers who use or are exposed to substances hazardous to health.
- Supervisors and those who carry out or apply the assessments.
- Anyone whose process creates dust, fume, mist or vapour.
- New starters before instruction on the substances in their work.
The assessment & the safe system of work
- The employer assesses which substances are used or created and how people could be exposed.
- Exposure is prevented where possible, or controlled to keep it as low as reasonably practicable.
- Controls follow a hierarchy — eliminate or substitute, then engineering controls, then ways of working, then PPE.
- Workers follow the safe method, use the controls and PPE provided, and do not bypass them.
Controls in the hierarchy
- Removing or substituting the substance or process where it can be done.
- Engineering controls such as enclosure and local exhaust ventilation.
- Safe systems of work, hygiene and limiting the number exposed and the time of exposure.
- Suitable PPE, including fit-tested respiratory protection, as the final control.
Pre-task checks
- Confirm the assessment for the substance and task is in place and understood.
- Check that the required controls are working and PPE is available and suitable.
- Check washing and hygiene facilities are available before starting.
- Do not start if the assessment is missing or the controls are not working.
Monitoring, health surveillance & review
- Where needed, exposure is monitored and engineering controls are examined and tested.
- Where the law requires it for certain substances, health surveillance is provided.
- Assessments are reviewed when the work, the substances or the controls change.
- These arrangements are the employer’s and are carried out by competent people — not by this page.
What this means for workers
- Use substances only as the assessment and instruction allow, with the controls in place.
- Use, and do not interfere with, the controls and PPE provided.
- Report defects in controls and anything that increases exposure.
- Specific tasks may need particular training and authorisation set by the employer, not by this page.
Incidents & reporting
- Follow the emergency and first-aid guidance for the substance if exposure occurs.
- Stop work and raise the alarm if controls fail or there is an uncontrolled release.
- Take part in health surveillance where provided and report symptoms early.
- Report exposures, control failures and near misses through the site’s reporting route.
Training & competence
Where substances hazardous to health are used, employers are generally expected to make a suitable assessment and to give workers the information, instruction and training they need — on the substances, the risks and the precautions. Carrying out the assessments themselves calls for competent people.
Instruction such as this page is information, not competence. Reading it does not make anyone competent to carry out an assessment or to work safely with a specific substance; that comes from proper training and the employer’s assessments.
Documentation
- The assessments and safety data for the substances used.
- Records of monitoring, control examination and testing.
- Health surveillance records where required, and records of instruction and training.
- A record documents what was provided; it is not, by itself, proof of competence.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Treating an assessment as a one-off rather than reviewing it when things change.
- Jumping to PPE before higher controls in the hierarchy.
- Working with a substance without the assessment and controls in place.
- Treating awareness material as the assessment or the training the work requires.
Who is responsible
The employer is responsible for assessing substances hazardous to health, preventing or controlling exposure, maintaining controls, providing health surveillance where required, instructing workers and keeping records. This page is an educational outline only.
It does not deliver training, carry out any assessment, satisfy any legal requirement, or transfer the employer’s responsibility for protecting health.
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