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COSHH Assessments

Who Can Do a COSHH Assessment in a Food Business?

Who Is Qualified to Carry Out a COSHH Assessment and What Competence Means

Quick answer

One of the most common COSHH questions is whether you need a qualified consultant to carry out the assessment. For most hospitality businesses the answer is no. The regulations require the assessment to be done by a competent person, and competence here means someone who understands the work, the substances, and the people exposed, not someone holding a specific certificate. In practice the best person to assess COSHH in a kitchen or bar is usually the manager or chef who knows how the chemicals are actually used. This article explains what competence means, when in-house assessment is fine, and when it is worth getting help.

  • COSHH assessments must be done by a competent person, which means relevant knowledge and judgement, not a specific qualification.
  • For most hospitality businesses the manager or chef is the best-placed assessor because they know how chemicals are really used.
  • A short COSHH awareness course plus good supplier information is usually enough for in-house assessment.

Key takeaways

COSHH assessments must be done by a competent person, which means relevant knowledge and judgement, not a specific qualification.
For most hospitality businesses the manager or chef is the best-placed assessor because they know how chemicals are really used.
A short COSHH awareness course plus good supplier information is usually enough for in-house assessment.
Specialist help is worth it for unusual risks such as confined spaces, plant rooms, or exposure monitoring.
External advisers should strengthen an assessment, not replace the input of the people doing the work.

What the Law Means by a Competent Person

COSHH requires a suitable and sufficient assessment, and the HSE expects it to be carried out by someone competent to do so. Competence is a mix of knowledge and judgement: understanding how to read a safety data sheet, knowing how the substances are stored and used across the premises, recognising who could be exposed, and being able to judge whether the controls are adequate. None of that requires a degree or a formal qualification. A manager who has done a short COSHH awareness course and knows the operation well is generally better placed than an external consultant who visits for an afternoon and has never seen a Saturday night service.
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When In-House Assessment Is the Right Choice

For a typical restaurant, cafe, pub, or small hotel, the COSHH assessment can and should be done in-house. The substances are well understood, the safety data sheets are readily available from suppliers, and the uses are straightforward. Doing it yourself has a real advantage: it forces the person responsible to look honestly at what chemicals are on the premises and how staff handle them, which is the whole point. A short COSHH course for the assessor, combined with good supplier information, is usually all that is needed. Many cleaning chemical suppliers also provide site-specific COSHH documentation as part of their service, which gives you a strong starting point to adapt.

When to Bring in Outside Help

Specialist help is worth considering where the risks are unusual or the consequences of getting it wrong are high. Examples include large hotels with extensive plant rooms and pools, businesses using industrial cleaning processes, sites with confined spaces such as cellars where carbon dioxide can accumulate, and any operation where exposure monitoring or local exhaust ventilation is involved. Group operators may also use a health and safety adviser to set a consistent standard across sites. Even then, the assessment should be informed by the people who do the work. Outside expertise is best used to check and strengthen an assessment, not to produce a generic document that nobody on site recognises.

What to do next

Name the competent person responsible for COSHH

Assign COSHH to a specific manager or chef and make sure they have time and basic training to do it properly.

Book a short COSHH awareness course for the assessor

A half-day course covers reading safety data sheets, the hierarchy of control, and recording, which is enough for most sites.

Ask your chemical supplier for site documentation

Many suppliers provide product-specific COSHH information you can adapt to your premises and uses.

Common mistakes to avoid

Mistake
Assuming you must pay a consultant to be compliant
Instead
The law does not require a consultant. A competent person in-house, with basic training and supplier information, can produce a suitable and sufficient assessment for most hospitality sites.
Mistake
Letting a consultant produce a generic document with no site input
Instead
An assessment that staff do not recognise will not be followed. Whoever leads the assessment, it must reflect the real substances and methods on your premises.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a qualification to do a COSHH assessment?

No formal qualification is required. The assessor must be competent, meaning they understand the substances, the work, and the people exposed. A short COSHH awareness course is helpful but not legally mandatory.

Can the business owner do their own COSHH assessment?

Yes. In most hospitality businesses the owner or manager is the ideal person because they know exactly which chemicals are used and how. They simply need to work through the assessment properly and keep it up to date.

Should a chef or kitchen manager do the kitchen COSHH assessment?

Often yes. The kitchen manager or head chef understands how cleaning chemicals, degreasers, and sanitisers are used during service and cleaning down, which makes them well placed to judge the real risks and the controls that will actually be followed.

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