COSHH Risk Assessments

A COSHH assessment is a structured evaluation of the risks posed by a specific hazardous substance in a specific workplace context. For pest control chemicals, each assessment covers:

• Substance identification: Product name, active ingredient, concentration, formulation type, and supplier. Cross-referenced with the Safety Data Sheet (SDS).
• Hazard classification: The GHS (Globally Harmonised System) hazard pictograms, signal words, and hazard statements from the product label and SDS.
• Route of exposure: How people could be exposed: inhalation, skin contact, ingestion, or eye contact. The likely duration and frequency of exposure.
• Who is at risk: Employees, contractors, visitors, customers, members of the public, children, pets, and vulnerable groups.
• Control measures: The specific actions taken to prevent or minimise exposure, including elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and PPE.
• PPE requirements: The specific personal protective equipment required when handling, applying, or being in proximity to the substance.
• Emergency procedures: First aid measures, spill response, fire response, and medical treatment guidance specific to the substance.
• Storage and disposal: Safe storage requirements, incompatible substances, shelf life, and disposal method.

Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) are the foundation of COSHH compliance. They are legally required documents provided by the manufacturer or supplier of every hazardous product, containing detailed information about the substance's hazards, safe handling, storage, exposure controls, and emergency measures.

Employers must obtain the current SDS for every hazardous substance used on their premises, keep SDSs accessible to all employees who may be exposed (not locked in an office), review SDSs when updated versions are issued, and use the SDS as the basis for the COSHH risk assessment.

COSHH records must be maintained and available for inspection. This includes the risk assessments themselves, SDSs for all substances in use, training records for all employees exposed to hazardous substances, monitoring records where exposure monitoring is carried out, health surveillance records where health surveillance is required, and maintenance records for control equipment (ventilation, RPE, etc.).

We provide complete COSHH documentation for every pest control treatment we carry out on your premises, including substance identification, risk assessment, control measures, and PPE records. This documentation integrates with your existing pest management files.

Under COSHH, employers have specific legal duties that cannot be delegated. Even if you use an external pest control contractor, you remain responsible for ensuring that the substances used on your premises are covered by COSHH assessments, that your employees are informed about the substances being used and the precautions in place, that warning signs, exclusion zones, and re-entry periods are observed, that COSHH records for pest control treatments are retained as part of your site documentation, and that employees who handle or are exposed to hazardous substances receive appropriate training.

When we carry out pest control on your premises, we provide COSHH assessments for every substance we use, safety information for your staff regarding the treatment, warning signage and access restrictions where required, and copies of all documentation for your records.

For businesses that use their own cleaning chemicals, disinfectants, or other hazardous products, we can carry out standalone COSHH assessments to ensure your in-house chemical use is also compliant.

COSHH documentation is a required element of many commercial audit standards. BRC, SALSA, Red Tractor, and retailer codes of practice all require evidence that hazardous substances are properly assessed and controlled.

For food businesses, COSHH assessments for pest control chemicals must be available alongside your pest management records. Auditors expect to see the current COSHH assessment for every pesticide used on site, the corresponding Safety Data Sheet, evidence that products are stored correctly (locked cabinet, away from food), training records for staff awareness, and a log of substances applied with dates, locations, and quantities.

Our pest management documentation is designed to satisfy these requirements. For every treatment visit, we provide a record of the substances used, quantities applied, locations, COSHH assessment reference, and the technician responsible. This integrates directly with your food safety management system.

In addition to COSHH (which focuses on human health), pest control treatments require environmental risk assessments to protect non-target wildlife, water courses, and the wider environment.

All rodenticide use follows CRRU stewardship requirements, which include environmental risk assessment as a mandatory step. Key considerations include proximity to water courses, ponds, and ditches, the presence of non-target wildlife (birds of prey, hedgehogs, badgers), nesting sites of protected species, the type and location of bait stations (to prevent access by non-target animals), and the duration of treatment and the schedule for bait removal.

Environmental risk assessments are documented alongside COSHH assessments and form part of the complete treatment record. For businesses operating near sensitive environmental features, we tailor our treatment approach to minimise any risk to the surrounding ecosystem.