COSHH Assessment for Hospitality: How to Do One, What to Include and the Templates to Use

A COSHH assessment is the written record that shows you have identified the hazardous substances used in your business and put controls in place for the people who handle them. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 require one from every employer, and in hospitality that means the bleach under the sink, the oven cleaner, the descaler, the glasswash detergent, the sanitiser spray and the CO2 in the cellar. A COSHH risk assessment and a COSHH assessment are the same document; the regulations call it a risk assessment and most operators drop the middle word. Environmental health officers look at COSHH alongside food safety, particularly where chemicals sit near food, and the Health and Safety Executive enforces it directly. Most hospitality businesses either have no assessment or a generic one copied from a template that does not match the products on their shelves. This guide covers the whole job: how to do a COSHH assessment step by step, the hazardous substances common in kitchens, bars, cellars and housekeeping and the controls for each, choosing PPE and reading GHS pictograms, COSHH training requirements and records, how to read a safety data sheet, the regulations and employer duties behind it all, and how to keep the records digitally. Every article is written for real hospitality operations and explains what an inspector actually looks for. If you want the paperwork rather than the theory, the free COSHH assessment template comes with nine pre-filled assessments for the chemicals most kitchens use.