Hazardous substances add-on · £19.00/month
Carry out suitable and sufficient COSHH assessments, store safety data sheets, track exposure and keep health surveillance records for the 40 years the law requires — all in HSEQ Nova.
Requires HSEQ Nova Core (£29.00/month). Unlimited users included.
COSHH register and assessments
Every substance, every assessment, every health record — in one place.
The legal duty
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 place three core duties on employers: assess the risk, prevent or control exposure, and carry out health surveillance where required.
COSHH 2002 reg. 6
A suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk to health must be carried out before any work with a hazardous substance begins. The assessment must be reviewed regularly and whenever there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid.
COSHH 2002 reg. 7
Exposure must be prevented or, where that is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled. The hierarchy of control applies: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and lastly personal protective equipment.
COSHH 2002 reg. 11
Where the assessment identifies a risk to health and there is a valid technique for detecting the disease or condition, the employer must ensure health surveillance is carried out. Health records from surveillance must be kept for at least 40 years.
How it works
HSEQ Nova follows the COSHH lifecycle: identify the substance, assess the risk, record exposure, and keep health records for as long as the law requires.
01
Add the hazardous substance to the COSHH register. Upload the safety data sheet and record the hazard classification, route of exposure and workplace exposure limit if one exists.
02
Create a COSHH assessment. Identify who is at risk, the tasks that involve exposure, and the controls that prevent or adequately control exposure. Set a review date.
03
Where health surveillance is required, record results against individual workers. The exposure register links the worker, the substance, and the assessment.
04
When the assessment is due for review — or when a new substance, a change in process or a health surveillance result triggers a review — update the assessment and keep the history.
What you get
Everything an employer needs to meet the assessment, control and surveillance duties under COSHH 2002.
Structured assessments that follow the eight steps set out in the HSE's COSHH essentials guidance. Record the substance, the hazard, the route of exposure, the people at risk, and the controls in place.
Upload and store safety data sheets (SDS) against each substance. The SDS is accessible from the assessment, so the information the workforce needs is in one place.
A central register of every hazardous substance used in the workplace. See which substances are in use, which assessments cover them, and when each assessment was last reviewed.
Where health surveillance is required, HSEQ Nova stores the individual health record. COSHH 2002 regulation 11(4) requires these records to be kept for at least 40 years from the date of the last entry.
Record which workers are exposed to which substances, the duration and the level of exposure. The exposure register supports both the COSHH assessment and the health surveillance programme.
Assessments must be reviewed regularly and whenever there is reason to suspect they are no longer valid. HSEQ Nova tracks review dates and flags overdue assessments on the HSEQ cockpit.
Common questions about COSHH, hazardous substances and how HSEQ Nova handles assessments and health records.
COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health. The COSHH Regulations 2002 (as amended) set out the duties on employers to assess, prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace. These include chemicals, fumes, dusts, vapours, biological agents and nanotechnology particles.
A COSHH assessment is required before any work begins that involves, or may involve, exposure to a substance hazardous to health. Regulation 6 of COSHH 2002 requires the assessment to be suitable and sufficient — it must identify the hazards, who is at risk, and the controls needed. Where there are five or more employees, the assessment must be recorded.
Under COSHH 2002 regulation 11(4), individual health records from health surveillance must be kept for at least 40 years from the date of the last entry. This is significantly longer than most other workplace records and is one of the reasons a digital system with long-term retention is important.
A safety data sheet is a document provided by the supplier of a chemical product. It contains 16 sections covering identification, hazards, composition, first aid, fire-fighting, handling, exposure controls, physical properties, stability, toxicology, ecology, disposal, transport, regulation and other information. The SDS is the starting point for any COSHH assessment.
The COSHH add-on is £19.00 per month excluding VAT, on top of HSEQ Nova Core at £29.00 per month. Unlimited users are included in the Core price. The add-on covers COSHH assessments, the substance register, safety data sheet storage, the exposure register and health records with 40-year retention.
Assessments, safety data sheets, exposure records and health surveillance in one system. Add the COSHH pack to HSEQ Nova Core for £19.00 per month excluding VAT.