Chemical Safety

Advice on and assistance with all aspects of legislative compliance

Do you comply with occupational health and safety law?

The use of hazardous substances at work can put people's health at risk. In order to prevent ill health, the law requires employers to control exposure to hazardous substances, not only to employees, but to others as well. The duties of employers may be categorised into:

Occupational exposure
Control of major accident hazards

Occupational exposure

What would the impact of chemical exposure be on your business?

Exposure to hazardous substances may lead to ill health or even death. This may have serious repercussions on your business, ranging from loss of productivity or reputation, to prosecution and civil claims. This means that, from an economical point-of-view alone, it is important to prevent exposure. You must also consider your moral duty not to harm others by your business, as well as the legislative requirements to prevent exposure.

In the UK, the use of hazardous substances is covered by many statutory instruments that stem from European Directives (such as the health aspects of the Chemical Agents Directive (CAD)) and The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. If any part of your business involves handling substances that are hazardous to health, then you may have duties under such legislation as:

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, 2002 (as amended)
The Control of Lead at Work Regulations, 2002
The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations, 2006

If you don't know whether the above legislation is applicable to your business, or whether there are other pieces of legislation you need to comply with, then NCEC can help you review your business, help decide what legislation applies, and keep you updated with significant changes in UK and EU law.

If you are not clear on what your duties are, if you don't know how to protect your employees, or simply need a fresh view of your systems, then contact us for advice on how to comply with the law and to protect your employees and third parties from the substances you use.

We can help you:

Audit your compliance with relevant legislation, and recommend remedial actions where necessary
Provide advice on the regulations and how they apply to your business
Provide in house, bespoke training to your employees