Understanding COSHH Assessments for Cleaning Products

Why cleaning products deserve a second look

Most small businesses rely on cleaning products every day — a bottle of bleach in the staff toilet, a trigger spray on the kitchen worktop, a tub of disinfectant wipes by the till. Because they're familiar household items, it's tempting to treat them as harmless. They aren't. Many contain acids, alkalis, solvents, biocides and fragrances that can burn skin, trigger asthma, and damage eyes within seconds of contact.

Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 — usually shortened to COSHH — you have a legal duty to assess the risks from any hazardous substance used at work and to put sensible controls in place. That includes cleaning chemicals. The good news is that for a small business, a COSHH assessment for a handful of cleaning products is usually a short, practical exercise rather than a paperwork mountain.

What COSHH actually asks of you

The regulation boils down to a simple sequence of steps: identify the hazardous substances in your workplace, assess the risk to anyone who could be exposed, decide what controls are needed, put them in place, and keep them working. If you employ five or more people you must record the significant findings in writing. Even if you have fewer, doing so is still good practice — and it makes training new staff far easier.

People often assume "hazardous" means something dramatic. In practice, it means anything carrying a hazard warning pictogram on the label — the exclamation mark, the corrosion symbol, the flame, the gas cylinder, or the health hazard symbol. Everyday products such as thick bleach, oven cleaner, descaler, drain unblocker and some floor strippers all qualify.

Start with the safety data sheet

Every product you buy for commercial use should come with a safety data sheet, often called an SDS. Your supplier must provide it — ask if it hasn't been sent automatically, and keep a copy with your assessment. It's a standard 16-section document, but for cleaning products you'll mostly use four parts:

• Section 2 – hazards identification: the classification, the hazard pictograms, and the warning phrases such as "causes serious eye irritation" or "may cause an allergic skin reaction".
• Section 3 – composition: the hazardous ingredients and their concentrations, which tells you how strong the product really is.
• Section 8 – exposure controls: the gloves, eye protection and ventilation the manufacturer recommends, plus any workplace exposure limits.
• Section 10 – stability and reactivity: critical for knowing what the product must never be mixed with or stored next to.

Dilution matters here. A concentrated floor cleaner decanted into a bucket at the recommended dilution presents a very different risk from the neat product, and your assessment should mention which form staff actually handle.

Deciding on sensible controls

Controls should follow a hierarchy: eliminate the risk where you can, reduce it where you can't, then protect people as a last resort. In practice, for cleaning that looks like this:

• Swap where possible. If a gentler, non-hazardous product does the same job, use it. Buying ready-diluted products removes the need for staff to pour and mix concentrates.
• Never mix products. Bleach plus an acidic descaler releases chlorine gas; bleach plus ammonia-based cleaner releases chloramine vapour. Both can cause serious breathing difficulties in a confined space such as a toilet cubicle.
• Control the spray. Fine mists are the main route to lung irritation and occupational asthma. Spray onto a cloth rather than into the air, use trigger bottles instead of aerosols where you can, and open windows or run extractor fans.
• Protect skin properly. Provide suitable gloves — nitrile is often recommended, but check the SDS, as chemical resistance varies. Reusable gloves should be rinsed, dried and replaced when they start to perish.
• Cover eyes and hands. For decanting or using neat corrosive products, add goggles and an apron. Keep an eyewash bottle or access to running water nearby.

Occupational dermatitis is one of the most common work-related skin conditions in the UK, and it's almost entirely preventable with the right gloves and a bit of hand care.

Storing and labelling cleaning chemicals

Storage is where small businesses most often come unstuck. Keep cleaning chemicals in their original containers with the original label intact — decanting into an unmarked bottle, or worse a drinks bottle, is a serious accident waiting to happen. If you must decant for a shift, label the container with the product name and hazard warning, and empty it at the end of the day.

Store products in a cool, dry, ventilated place, away from food, drink and food preparation surfaces. Keep bleach and acids apart, keep anything flammable away from heat sources, and make sure containers are closed and can't leak onto a shelf. Cleaning cupboards should be lockable if children or vulnerable adults have access to the premises.

Keeping it working: training and reviews

An assessment sitting in a folder changes nothing. Brief staff on the products they use — what the hazards are, how to dilute correctly, what protective equipment to wear, and what to do if there's a splash or a spill. Make sure the SDS and a simple spill procedure are accessible, not buried in an office drawer.

Review your assessments at least annually, and sooner if anything changes: a new product, a new task, a member of staff developing a skin or breathing problem, or an incident. For anyone regularly using irritating cleaning chemicals, it's worth asking about skin and breathing symptoms — early reporting is what stops a mild irritation becoming a long-term condition.

Done well, a COSHH assessment for cleaning products is a page or two of plain English that protects your team and shows you're running a responsible operation. It's one of the cheapest pieces of health and safety work you'll ever do.