If you run a business in Burnley, Barnoldswick, or anywhere across Lancashire where your team works with chemicals, cleaning products, solvents, dusts, or biological materials — you need to understand COSHH. Not because it sounds important (though it is), but because getting it wrong can seriously harm your people and land your business in serious legal trouble.
This guide cuts through the jargon and gives you a straight answer to the two questions we hear most often: what actually is COSHH? and does my business actually need COSHH training?
COSHH stands for Control of Substances Hazardous to Health. If anyone in your workplace handles chemicals, cleaning products, fumes, dusts, solvents, or biological materials, you are legally required to assess and control the risks. COSHH training is a core part of meeting that duty.
What Does COSHH Actually Mean?
COSHH is the shorthand for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 — the UK law that requires employers to prevent or adequately control exposure to substances that can harm their workers' health.
The key word is control. The regulations don't say you have to eliminate every hazardous substance from your workplace (that's often impossible). They say you have to assess the risk those substances pose to your workers and put in place appropriate controls to protect them.
What Counts as a "Hazardous Substance" Under COSHH?
This is where many employers in Burnley and Barnoldswick get caught out — they think COSHH only applies to industrial chemicals or laboratories. It's much broader than that. Under COSHH, hazardous substances include:
- Chemicals — solvents, acids, alkalis, paints, adhesives, cleaning products
- Fumes — welding fumes, exhaust gases, vapours from heated materials
- Dusts — wood dust, flour dust, metal dust, construction dust
- Mists — spray painting, cutting oils, metalworking fluids
- Biological agents — bacteria, viruses, fungi (relevant to care, food production, waste handling)
- Nanotechnology materials — increasingly relevant in precision engineering and advanced manufacturing
Cleaning products used by a hotel housekeeper? COSHH. Welding fumes in a Barnoldswick engineering workshop? COSHH. Pesticides on a Ribble Valley farm? COSHH. Flour dust in a Burnley bakery? COSHH. The reach of these regulations is wider than most employers realise.
A quick way to check if something falls under COSHH: look at the product's Safety Data Sheet (SDS) — legally required for all hazardous products. If there's a hazard symbol on the label (flame, skull, exclamation mark, or others) or the SDS lists exposure limits, COSHH applies.
What Are Your Legal Duties Under COSHH?
The COSHH Regulations 2002 place specific duties on employers. Here's what you're legally required to do:
1. Assess the Risk
Before work with a hazardous substance begins (or resumes), you must carry out a suitable and sufficient COSHH risk assessment. This means identifying:
- What hazardous substances are used or produced in your workplace
- What the health effects of those substances are
- How workers could be exposed (inhalation, skin contact, ingestion, injection)
- How likely exposure is and how severe the potential harm could be
- What control measures are already in place
2. Prevent or Control Exposure
Once you've assessed the risk, you must prevent exposure where possible. The COSHH hierarchy of controls (in order of preference) is:
- Elimination — can you stop using the substance entirely?
- Substitution — can you replace it with something less hazardous?
- Engineering controls — extraction systems, enclosed processes, local exhaust ventilation
- Administrative controls — safe working procedures, reduced exposure times
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) — gloves, respirators, eye protection — last resort, not first response
3. Ensure Controls Are Used and Maintained
It's not enough to install an extraction system — you must ensure it's actually used, regularly maintained, and inspected. LEV (Local Exhaust Ventilation) systems require thorough examination every 14 months.
4. Monitor Exposure and Conduct Health Surveillance
For certain substances (where there are Workplace Exposure Limits, or where health effects are well-known), you may need to monitor air quality and conduct health surveillance for affected workers.
5. Provide Information, Instruction, and Training
This is where COSHH Awareness training comes in. You must ensure everyone who works with or near hazardous substances understands:
- The nature of the substances they're working with and the risks involved
- How to read and interpret Safety Data Sheets and hazard labels
- What control measures are in place and why they must be used
- Emergency procedures if something goes wrong
Your COSHH Duties in Plain English
- Identify all hazardous substances in your workplace
- Assess the risk to your workers from each substance
- Control exposure using the hierarchy of controls
- Maintain control measures and keep records
- Train employees who work with hazardous substances
- Monitor exposure and health where required
Do I Actually Need COSHH Training? Who Is It For?
The short answer: if hazardous substances are present in your workplace, yes — COSHH training is a legal requirement, not optional. The longer answer depends on your type of business.
Burnley & Barnoldswick Manufacturing and Engineering
Manufacturing and engineering businesses in Burnley and Barnoldswick are among the businesses with the clearest COSHH training need. If your site involves any of the following, COSHH Awareness training is required:
- Metalworking and machining — cutting fluids, coolants, metal dusts, grinding debris
- Welding and cutting operations — welding fumes are a significant occupational health risk and HSE enforcement priority
- Painting and surface finishing — solvents, isocyanates (in spray paints), chromate primers
- Degreasing and cleaning — many industrial degreasers are classified as hazardous
- Aerospace and precision engineering — composite materials, adhesives, specialist coatings
For Barnoldswick's aerospace supply chain in particular, COSHH compliance isn't just an HSE requirement — it will also be required by your customer's quality management system (AS9100, NADCAP, or similar).
Cleaning and Facilities Services
Professional cleaning is one of the most frequently overlooked sectors for COSHH compliance. Commercial cleaning products — bleach, descalers, drain cleaners, degreasers — routinely contain hazardous substances. Cleaning staff regularly develop occupational dermatitis and respiratory problems from inadequate controls. COSHH Awareness training is essential.
Food Production
Burnley has a significant food production and processing sector. Cleaning chemicals, allergen dusts, fumigation agents, and refrigerant gases all fall under COSHH. Flour dust alone (a recognised carcinogen when inhaled in occupational quantities) is enough to trigger a COSHH duty.
Healthcare and Care Homes
Care homes and healthcare settings deal with biological agents and disinfectants, both of which fall under COSHH. Staff training on safe handling and the correct use of disinfectants and cleaning chemicals is a legal requirement.
Hospitality and Catering
Commercial kitchens use a range of cleaning and sanitising chemicals that are classified as hazardous. Dishwasher chemicals, oven cleaners, and descalers are all common COSHH substances in hospitality environments.
What Happens if You Ignore COSHH?
HSE enforcement of COSHH has intensified significantly in recent years, particularly around welding fumes (reclassified as a Group 1 carcinogen in 2019 following IARC research). Consequences of COSHH non-compliance include:
- Improvement notices — requiring you to fix specific issues within a set timeframe
- Prohibition notices — stopping specific work activities immediately until the issue is resolved
- Prosecution and unlimited fines — COSHH enforcement regularly results in significant fines, particularly following work-related illness
- Civil claims — workers who develop occupational diseases (dermatitis, asthma, COPD, cancer) from COSHH-regulated substances have a strong basis for civil compensation claims
- Reputational damage — HSE prosecutions are public record and searchable
What Does COSHH Awareness Training Actually Cover?
Our COSHH Awareness course — delivered on-site at your Burnley, Barnoldswick, or wider Lancashire premises — takes approximately 3–4 hours and covers:
- What COSHH is and why it matters — the legal background without the jargon
- Types of hazardous substances and how to identify them
- The four routes of exposure: inhalation, skin contact, ingestion, and injection
- How to read and interpret Safety Data Sheets (SDS/MSDS) and GHS/CLP hazard labels
- COSHH risk assessment — what a good one looks like
- The hierarchy of control measures — from elimination through to PPE
- Safe storage, handling, and disposal of hazardous substances
- Emergency procedures — spills, exposures, and first aid responses
- Employer and employee legal duties under the COSHH Regulations 2002
COSHH Training vs. COSHH Risk Assessment — What's the Difference?
A question we hear regularly, especially from Burnley and Barnoldswick manufacturing managers: "We've done a COSHH risk assessment — do we still need training?"
Yes — they're separate legal requirements:
- A COSHH risk assessment is a documented evaluation of the hazardous substances in your workplace and the controls in place. It's a management document.
- COSHH training is the instruction and information given to individual workers who may be exposed. It makes your assessment meaningful — people can only follow controls they understand.
Both are required. Having one without the other leaves you non-compliant.
How Often Does COSHH Training Need to Be Refreshed?
Unlike first aid certificates (which have a 3-year validity), COSHH training doesn't have a fixed legal renewal period. However, the HSE expects training to be reviewed and refreshed when:
- New substances are introduced to your workplace
- Working processes change
- New control measures are implemented
- An employee's role changes
- A COSHH-related incident or near-miss occurs
- Guidance or legislation changes
As a general rule, annual refresher training is considered best practice by the HSE, particularly in higher-exposure environments like Burnley manufacturing and engineering sites.
Combining COSHH with First Aid and Manual Handling Training
One of the most efficient approaches for Lancashire manufacturers and engineering businesses — including sites in Burnley, Barnoldswick, and the wider East Lancashire area — is to combine COSHH Awareness training with First Aid at Work and Manual Handling training in a single on-site visit.
This minimises downtime and disruption: rather than three separate training days spread across three separate visits, your team gets a comprehensive safety programme in one organised visit. We regularly deliver this for manufacturing clients across the area.
See our related posts: First Aid for Burnley Manufacturing Sites and First Aid Training for Barnoldswick Businesses.
Need COSHH Awareness Training for Your Lancashire Business?
PS Training Services delivers on-site COSHH Awareness training across Burnley, Barnoldswick, Nelson, Colne, Clitheroe, Skipton, and the wider East Lancashire area. Half-day delivery at your site — no travel for your team.
View COSHH Awareness CourseFrequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between COSHH and RIDDOR?
COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002) requires employers to assess and control risks from hazardous substances before harm occurs. RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) requires employers to report specific workplace injuries, occupational diseases, and dangerous occurrences after they happen. Occupational diseases caused by hazardous substances — like occupational asthma or dermatitis — must be reported under RIDDOR as well as being managed under COSHH.
Do welding fumes fall under COSHH?
Yes — and this is now a high-priority HSE enforcement area. Since the IARC reclassified welding fumes as a Group 1 carcinogen in 2019, the HSE has significantly increased enforcement activity around welding and hot work operations. Engineering and fabrication businesses in Burnley and Barnoldswick should treat welding fume control as an urgent COSHH priority.
How long does COSHH Awareness training take?
Our COSHH Awareness course takes approximately 3–4 hours and is delivered on-site at your premises. It can be combined with Manual Handling or First Aid training in a single visit to maximise efficiency for your team.
Do I need a COSHH assessment for cleaning products?
Yes — if the cleaning products you use are classified as hazardous (check the label for GHS/CLP hazard symbols, or look at the Safety Data Sheet), you need a COSHH assessment and your cleaning staff need COSHH training. This applies to commercial cleaning operations, hotel housekeeping, care homes, kitchens, and any other setting where cleaning chemicals are used regularly.
Can COSHH training be delivered on-site in Burnley or Barnoldswick?
Yes — PS Training Services delivers COSHH Awareness training on-site at your Burnley, Barnoldswick, or wider Lancashire premises. We bring all necessary materials, so your team has no travel time or costs. We can also combine COSHH training with First Aid at Work and Manual Handling training in a single visit.