3 ways to automate a COSHH risk assessment

#1 - Simple assessment

Who it's for: Single-site businesses recording the COSHH risk assessment themselves, where you know the chemicals in use and just need a clear, structured record.

What it is: A COSHH risk assessment records, for every hazardous substance on site, how it could reach the body, how it is stored, what happens if it spills, and the training, dust control, PPE and monitoring in place around it. This version is structured around the 7 areas a COSHH assessment needs to cover: routes of exposure, storage, spill response, staff training, dust control, personal protective equipment, and monitoring and review. Each area is a small group of three prompts written for that area. Routes of exposure asks you to identify the exposure routes for each hazardous substance, decide who might be harmed and how, and evaluate the exposure risks and decide on precautions; Storage asks how each product is kept and who is at risk if that fails; and so on through all 7, so every question tells you exactly what it's about. A COSHH assessment is a legal duty under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 wherever a hazardous substance is used or stored.

In practice: A commercial kitchen works down the 7 areas for its chemical store. Under Storage: the products (oven cleaner, degreaser), who's at risk (the kitchen porter mixing solutions), and the precautions (original containers, lids secure, locked cupboard away from food). Under Spill response: absorbent pads and spill socks confirmed next to the cabinet, and the porter trained to use them. Three short answers per area, and the whole chemical inventory gets covered.

Why it works: The 7 areas are the structure a COSHH assessment needs to cover, so nothing gets missed: how the substance reaches the body, how it's stored and contained, and the training, dust control, PPE and monitoring around it, not just the hazard someone happened to think of. And splitting each area into three prompts means nobody has to remember what a good answer contains; the structure asks for the hazard, the people, and the precautions separately, which is what makes the record defensible.

Steps included:

• 7 assessment areas: routes of exposure, storage, spill response, staff training, dust control, personal protective equipment, and monitoring and review
• Each area is a group of 3 prompts written for it: identify the hazard, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate the risks and decide on precautions

#2 - With guidance

Who it's for: Businesses where a manager, not a COSHH specialist, completes the assessment and needs the method in front of them.

What it is: The same 7 areas and three prompts, but each area's group now carries its own written guidance: why that area matters and what to check before you answer. The routes of exposure group carries the reminder to check the safety data sheet and confirm with staff; the storage group carries ventilation, labelling and separation from food; the spill response group carries where the kits sit and who is trained to use them.

What it adds to the simple assessment:

1. Guidance for every area, on screen exactly where you answer it
2. What to check before answering, not just a blank box
3. An assessment that's consistent whoever completes it

Why it works: Generic guidance at the top of a form gets skimmed once and forgotten by area 5. Guidance attached to each area gets read at the moment it's needed, so a manager who isn't a COSHH specialist still asks the right questions about safety data sheets, storage separation, and PPE for the task.

Steps included:

• The 7 assessment areas, each a group of 3 prompts
• 7 guidance notes, one per area: why it matters and what to check

#3 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Businesses that want visual proof of each area's condition alongside the written record.

What it is: The same 7 areas and three prompts, but each area's group now carries a photo step. As you assess each area you photograph it: the safety data sheet, the storage cupboard, the spill kit, the PPE in the cabinet. The record shows the condition of each area at the time, not just a description of it.

In practice: A facilities manager works through the assessment with their phone. At Storage they photograph the locked cupboard with every container labelled; at Spill response, the absorbent pads and spill socks on their shelf; at Personal protective equipment, the goggles and gloves stocked and accessible. Every answer now has a picture next to it.

What it adds to the simple assessment:

1. A photo per area, captured as you assess it
2. Proof of conditions that holds up to an inspector, not just a written claim
3. A visual baseline to compare against at the next review

Why it works: A written assessment says the storage cupboard is locked and labelled; a photo shows it. When the assessment is reviewed next year, the photos also show what changed. And because the photo step sits with its area, the evidence files itself against the right hazard instead of landing in a camera roll.

Steps included:

• The 7 assessment areas, each a group of 3 prompts
• 7 photo steps, one per area: the hazard or the control in place, captured at the time

How to pick the right version

You don't need to know our product to choose. Every version here is the same 7-area assessment; the additions change who can run it and what the record proves.

Do other people run the assessment?

If you run it yourself and know the chemicals, the plain steps are enough: #1. The moment a manager who isn't a COSHH specialist does it, the guidance needs to be on screen next to each area: #2.

Do you need photo proof?

A written assessment meets the duty; photos show the actual condition of each area. If a written record is enough, #1 or #2. If you want the storage cupboard, the spill kit, and the PPE on camera next to their answers, #3.

Need both? Open the version that matters most in the playground and add the other's steps. That is how the product works anyway: every option here is the same assessment with steps added.

Related workflows

• Kitchen risk assessment - the wider kitchen assessment chemicals sit within
• Dermatitis risk assessment - the skin risk from wet work and detergents
• Sanitiser use - using sanitiser correctly day to day

Conclusion

COSHH assessments have to be current and demonstrate that hazardous substances are properly controlled, and the records are the first thing an inspector asks for. Every version above is the same 7 areas a COSHH assessment needs to cover, each a group of three prompts; the additions put guidance or a photo inside every area's group. Pick the one your business needs and build on it in the playground.

→ Build your own COSHH risk assessment on Pilla.