COSHH for Hospitality: The Complete Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Guide

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) require every employer to assess the hazardous substances used in their business and control the risk to anyone who could be exposed. In hospitality that means cleaning chemicals, sanitisers, oven and grill cleaners, descalers, dishwasher products, drain cleaners, and cellar gas, as well as substances created by work such as flour dust and cleaning mist. COSHH is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities, and environmental health officers routinely look at it alongside food safety, particularly where chemicals are stored near food. Yet COSHH is the compliance document most hospitality businesses either skip or copy from a generic template that does not match the products on their shelves. This guide covers COSHH end to end: how to carry out and record an assessment, the hazardous substances common in hospitality and how to control each one, choosing PPE and understanding GHS pictograms, area-by-area guidance for kitchens, bars, cellars and housekeeping, the underlying regulations and duties, and how to run COSHH digitally. Every article is written for real hospitality operations and explains what an inspector actually looks for.