Silica dust from dry cutting masonry or porcelain
- Wet cut or use on-tool extraction before anyone is offered a mask.
- Keep other trades and the public out of the dust. Do not sweep the slurry dry.
COSHH assessment template
COSHH applies when work exposes people to a substance hazardous to health. Cement dust, silica from cutting, solvent adhesive, plaster sanding dust and diesel fume are ordinary examples on small sites. The safety data sheet tells you about the product. It is not the assessment of your job.
RamsBox does not generate a standalone COSHH assessment yet. This page is the checklist a competent person uses, and the point where that assessment has to show up inside a RAMS.
What it has to cover
- The substance or process, not a brand name on its own. Include dusts created by the work.
- Who is exposed, for how long, and by which route: breathe it, get it on the skin, swallow it, or inject it through a cut.
- The safety data sheet and, where one exists, the workplace exposure limit in the current EH40.
- Controls in order: eliminate the product, substitute a safer one, extract or suppress, then organise the work, then RPE and gloves.
- How you will check the control still works, including face-fit where the mask requires it.
- Health surveillance only where the risk assessment says it is warranted, not as a slogan.
Hazards and controls
Solvent adhesive in a small, occupied room
- Read the safety data sheet and ventilate before the tin is opened.
- Substitute a lower-hazard product where the specification allows it. Store the tin closed, off a means of escape.
Relevant UK law and guidance
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. Assess exposure and prevent or adequately control it.
- EH40 Workplace exposure limits. The current list of limits, including respirable crystalline silica.
- Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Asbestos is not dealt with by a line in a general COSHH form. If it is suspected, stop and follow a separate plan.
Sample excerpt
Product: cement-based tile adhesive, plus the dust from cutting porcelain.
Who: the tiler in a bathroom, and the household if the door is open.
Control: extraction or wet cutting for the dust; gloves for the adhesive; the tin closed when you leave the room. RPE only for what the extraction does not catch. Review if the room has no window.
Questions
Is a COSHH assessment a legal requirement?
Yes, if the work can expose anyone to a substance hazardous to health. COSHH 2002 requires the assessment before the exposure, not after someone has a cough. Low-quantity work is not automatically out of scope.
Is the safety data sheet the COSHH assessment?
No. The sheet describes the product. The assessment describes your task: how much, how long, who else is in the room, and which control you will actually use.
Who should write a COSHH assessment?
A competent person who can read the safety data sheet and match it to the job. The operative needs to understand the result. They do not have to be the only author, but they do have to follow it.
What is the difference between COSHH and a RAMS?
COSHH decides the control for the substance. The RAMS puts that control into the sequence of the whole job, next to falls, vehicles and the public. A RAMS that says “see COSHH” and then has no COSHH assessment has a hole in it.
Does every substance need health surveillance?
No. Surveillance is for specific cases set out in COSHH, where the assessment shows it is warranted. Writing “health surveillance in place” on every form is not a control.
Can RamsBox produce the COSHH document today?
Not as its own download. The trade RAMS for plastering, bricklaying, tiling and hot works already carries the substance controls for those templates. Use this page to check what a separate COSHH record still has to say.
Related
AI-assisted draft. A competent person must review it and approve it for the site before use. RamsBox does not provide health and safety advice and is not affiliated with HSE.