COSHH Assessments

How to Do a COSHH Assessment for a Hospitality Business

A Practical Guide to COSHH Assessments for Kitchens, Bars, and Hotels

A COSHH assessment is a written record showing that you have identified the hazardous substances used in your business and put controls in place to protect anyone who could be exposed to them. In hospitality this mostly means cleaning chemicals, sanitisers, oven and grill cleaners, descalers, dishwasher products, and cellar gas, but it also covers things like flour dust and fumes from cooking. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 require every employer to complete one, yet COSHH is the food safety document most hospitality businesses either skip or copy from a generic template. This guide explains how to do a COSHH assessment properly for a kitchen, bar, or hotel, and what an environmental health officer or HSE inspector expects to see.

Build a COSHH assessment from a safety data sheet See COSHH features

Key takeaways

A COSHH assessment records the hazardous substances you use and the controls that protect anyone who could be exposed to them.

It assesses how a substance is used in your business, not the chemical in isolation - the same product can be high or low risk depending on use.

Start with a complete chemical inventory and collect the safety data sheet for every product.

Controls follow a hierarchy: eliminate or substitute hazardous products first, then rely on protective equipment.

An assessment only works if staff are briefed on it and can reach the records day to day.

What a COSHH Assessment Actually Covers

A COSHH assessment is not an assessment of the chemical itself - the manufacturer has already done that and published it in the safety data sheet. Your assessment is about how the substance is used in your business and who could be harmed. The same bottle of degreaser carries a different level of risk depending on whether it is sprayed neat onto a hot extraction canopy in a confined kitchen or wiped diluted onto a cold surface in a well-ventilated room. COSHH covers any substance that is harmful to health: cleaning and sanitising chemicals, descalers and limescale removers, oven and grill cleaners, drain unblockers, dishwasher detergents and rinse aids, glasswash chemicals, cellar line cleaner, carbon dioxide and other cellar gases, pest control products, and dust or fumes generated by work such as flour dust or cleaning chemical vapours. It does not cover substances that are only hazardous because they are hot, sharp, or under pressure, and it does not cover asbestos, lead, or radioactive material, which have their own regulations.

Step One: Build a Chemical Inventory

Start by walking every area of the premises and listing every hazardous product you find: under sinks, in cleaning cupboards, behind the bar, in the cellar, in housekeeping trolleys, and in the maintenance store. For each product, note where it is used, how often, by whom, and in what quantity. This inventory is the backbone of your assessment, and it is also the document that most often turns out to be incomplete. Products bought ad hoc from a cash and carry, decanted into unlabelled spray bottles, or left over from a previous manager are exactly the ones that get missed. Once you have the list, collect the safety data sheet for each product. Suppliers must provide these free of charge, and most publish them online. The safety data sheet gives you the hazard classification, the GHS pictograms, the hazard and precautionary statements, and the recommended controls and personal protective equipment.

Step Two: Assess the Risk in Your Setting

For each substance, work out who could be exposed and how. The main exposure routes are skin contact, breathing in vapours or mist, splashes to the eyes, and accidental swallowing, usually from decanting into a drinks bottle or contaminating food. Consider the people involved: kitchen porters who handle neat chemicals at the sink, bar staff changing cellar gas, housekeepers using multiple products in small rooms, and any young, pregnant, or new workers who may be more vulnerable. Then judge how likely harm is and how serious it would be, taking account of the controls you already have. A sanitiser used diluted on a wiped surface with gloves available is low risk. The same chemical decanted neat and sprayed near food without ventilation is not. The point of this step is to decide whether your existing controls are good enough or whether you need to do more.

Step Three: Record Controls and Tell Your Staff

Write down the controls for each substance: how it should be diluted, what protective equipment is needed, how it should be stored, what to do if it splashes or spills, and the first aid response. Controls should follow the hierarchy in the regulations, which means eliminating or substituting a hazardous product for a safer one where you can, before relying on protective equipment. Switching a corrosive oven cleaner for a less aggressive product, or buying pre-diluted sanitiser instead of concentrate, removes risk at the source. Once the assessment is written, it only protects people if they know about it. Brief your team on the substances they use, keep the assessments and safety data sheets somewhere staff can actually reach them, and record who has been trained. An assessment filed in the office that nobody has read is the version inspectors see through immediately.

What to do next

Walk the premises and list every hazardous product

Check under sinks, cleaning cupboards, behind the bar, the cellar, housekeeping trolleys, and the maintenance store. Include anything decanted into unlabelled bottles.

Collect a safety data sheet for each product

Download them from supplier websites or request them directly. Suppliers must provide safety data sheets free of charge.

Look for products you can substitute for something safer

Pre-diluted sanitisers, less corrosive oven cleaners, and lower-hazard descalers remove risk at the source and shorten your assessment.

Common mistakes to avoid

Mistake

Copying a generic COSHH assessment template without adapting it

Instead

A template that lists chemicals you do not use, or omits ones you do, is worse than nothing. The assessment must reflect the products on your shelves and how your staff actually use them.

Mistake

Missing decanted chemicals in unlabelled spray bottles

Instead

Decanted chemicals are the most commonly overlooked hazard. Label every container with its contents and hazards, and include it in your inventory.

Frequently asked questions

Is a COSHH assessment a legal requirement for restaurants?

Yes. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 apply to every employer that uses hazardous substances, including restaurants, cafes, pubs, hotels, and takeaways. If you use cleaning chemicals or sanitisers, you must have a COSHH assessment.

Do I need a separate COSHH assessment for every chemical?

You need to assess every hazardous substance, but you can group similar products and uses together. For example, several general-purpose sanitisers used the same way can be covered by one assessment, while a corrosive oven cleaner used neat needs its own.

Can I use the safety data sheet as my COSHH assessment?

No. The safety data sheet describes the chemical and its general hazards, but it does not assess how you use it or who could be exposed in your business. The COSHH assessment uses the safety data sheet as a source but adds your specific controls.

Who enforces COSHH in hospitality?

COSHH is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive or your local authority, depending on the premises. In practice, environmental health officers often review COSHH alongside food safety during inspections, particularly where cleaning chemicals are stored near food.

COSHH Assessments