Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Press Releases
Revised Approved Codes of Practices (ACOP) aimed at protecting workers from the risks of hazardous substances have been published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The ACOPs reflect the new Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002, and the Control of Lead at Work (CLAW) Regulations 2002. These regulations replace the COSHH Regulations 1999 and CLAW Regulations 1998.
While continuing to provide duty holders with comprehensive advice on how to comply with the law, the ACOPs are clearer than their predecessors about the status of the advice they give. The COSHH ACOP benefits from a simplification in its structure, which has incorporated the formerly separate, COSHH General, Carcinogens and Biological Agents ACOPs into a single code of practice.
The new ACOPs also include information on the application of the new hierarchy of control measures necessary to control hazardous substances. They give advice on the new requirement to make arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies, and the COSHH ACOP has also been extended with an appendix on control of substances that cause occupational asthma.
The revised regulations implement the health requirements of the European Union's Chemical Agents Directive (CAD). The Directive is designed to protect the health and safety of workers from the risks from chemical agents, and largely follows the well-accepted principles already present in UK legislation. These include the need to carry out assessments of risk for chemical agents; prevent or adequately control exposure; monitor exposure; place employees under health surveillance and provide employees with information, instruction and training.
The regulations also include a new requirement for employers, in certain circumstances, to draw up detailed procedures for dealing with accidents, incidents and emergencies that involve hazardous substances.
Bill Macdonald, head of the COSHH and CLAW Policy Unit in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said:
"Every year thousands of employees are made ill by the effects of hazardous substances to which they are exposed at work, and most of this misery and the accompanying business losses could be avoided with better risk assessment and control.
"The new regulations and ACOPs are a significant further development of a well-established system, and will again highlight the risks of exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace. I urge employers to use them as an incentive to take a fresh look at their workplace procedures and systems to ensure that they are doing everything practicable to protect the health of their workers."
As well as extending COSHH to implement CAD, a number of changes have been made to make clear that the regulations apply to biological agents as well as to chemicals. The changes introduce some additional measures to control the risk of exposure when intentionally working with biological agents.
1. A copy of the Regulatory Impact Assessment for COSHH and CLAW is available from: Michael J Ryan, Health and Safety Executive, Health Directorate, Chemicals Policy Division, Level 7 North, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS, tel: 0207 717 6140, fax: 0207 717 6190.
2. COSHH and CLAW are long-established regulations which require employers to protect the health of their employees (or others who may be affected) from the effects of hazardous substances or lead by assessing the risk arising from their use of these substances and preventing or controlling exposure to them.
3. The approved codes, one for COSHH and one for CLAW, have a special legal status. If a person holding duties under the regulations is prosecuted for a breach, and it is proved that he did not follow the relevant provisions of the code, then he will have to show that he complied with the regulations in some other way or a court will find him at fault.
Copies of 'Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (Fourth Edition) Approved Code of Practice And Guidance L5', ISBN 0 7176 2534 6; price £10.50, are available from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 2WA, tel: 01787-881165 or fax: 01787-313995. Priced publications are also available from good booksellers.
Copies of the 'Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002 (Third Edition). Approved Code of Practice and Guidance L132', ISBN 0 7176 2565 6, price £10.50, are available from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 2WA, tel: 01787-881165 or fax: 01787-313995. Priced publications are also available from good booksellers.
: Call HSE's InfoLine, tel: 0845 345 0055, visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact, or write to: HSE Information Services, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG.
: Jan Kemal 020 7717 6902.Out of hours 020 7928 8382.
For press review copies telephone 020 7717 6904.
Call HSE's InfoLine, tel: 0845 345 0055
or write to: HSE Information Services, Caerphilly Park, Caerphilly
CF83 3GG.
Published on the HSE web site on 11 December 2002