COSHH Assessment Template: What to Include and How to Complete

What Is a COSHH Assessment?

A COSHH assessment is a structured document that identifies hazardous substances in your workplace and sets out the controls you need to protect people from harm. Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), every UK employer who uses, stores, or creates hazardous substances must carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment.

This is not optional. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) can issue improvement notices, prohibition notices, and even prosecute businesses that fail to assess their chemical risks — enforcement powers set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, sections 21–25. For small and medium-sized businesses the process does not have to be complicated, but it does have to be done properly and kept up to date. For a full overview of the process, see our guide on how to do a COSHH assessment.

Who Needs a COSHH Assessment?

If your business uses any of the following, you almost certainly need at least one COSHH assessment:

Cleaning chemicals (bleach, degreasers, sanitisers)
Paints, varnishes, adhesives, or solvents
Dust from wood, flour, silica, or other materials
Fumes from welding, soldering, or vehicle exhausts
Biological agents (bacteria, moulds, viruses in healthcare or waste handling)

Even if you only use a single bottle of bleach, COSHH applies. The good news is that for low-risk substances a short, straightforward assessment is usually enough.

What Fields Does a COSHH Assessment Require?

There is no single mandatory form layout, but the HSE expects your assessment to cover the following information at a minimum:

Substance name and details — the product name, its supplier, and the relevant Safety Data Sheet (SDS) reference.
Hazards — what the substance can do (e.g. irritant, corrosive, toxic, carcinogenic) taken from the SDS and label.
Who is at risk and how — which employees, contractors, or visitors could be exposed and by what route (inhalation, skin contact, ingestion, eye contact).
Current control measures — ventilation, PPE, safe storage, restricted access, spill procedures and any other precautions already in place.
Exposure levels — whether any Workplace Exposure Limits (WELs) apply, and whether monitoring is needed.
Health surveillance — whether ongoing health checks are required for exposed workers.
Emergency procedures — first-aid measures, spill response, and fire-fighting guidance.
Conclusion and actions — whether the current controls are adequate or whether further action is needed.
Review date — when the assessment will next be reviewed (typically annually or whenever circumstances change).
Assessor details — the name and signature of the competent person who carried out the assessment.

Step-by-Step Guide to Completing a COSHH Assessment

Step 1 — List Every Hazardous Substance

Walk through your workplace and make a list of every chemical product and hazardous substance you use, produce, or store. Do not forget substances generated by your processes such as welding fume, wood dust, or diesel exhaust. Check store cupboards, workshops, kitchens, and cleaning trolleys.

Step 2 — Gather Safety Data Sheets

For every commercial chemical product you should have a Safety Data Sheet supplied by the manufacturer or distributor. The SDS contains the hazard classifications, first-aid measures, exposure limits, and handling precautions you need.

If you are missing any SDS, contact your supplier and request the current version. You are legally entitled to receive one.

Step 3 — Identify the Hazards

Using the SDS and the product label, note down the hazard pictograms, signal words (Danger or Warning), and hazard statements (H-phrases). Record whether the substance is an irritant, corrosive, toxic, flammable, a sensitiser, or a carcinogen.

Step 4 — Decide Who Could Be Harmed and How

Think about everyone who might be exposed: employees using the product, colleagues working nearby, cleaners, contractors, and visitors. Consider all routes of exposure — breathing in vapour or dust, getting it on skin, splashing it in eyes, or accidentally swallowing it.

Step 5 — Evaluate Your Current Controls

Document what you are already doing to prevent or reduce exposure. This might include local exhaust ventilation, enclosed processes, PPE (gloves, goggles, masks), safe storage, restricted access, or training. Be honest about whether these controls are actually followed day to day.

Step 6 — Decide Whether More Action Is Needed

Compare your current controls against what the SDS and HSE guidance recommend. If there is a gap, write down the additional measures you will put in place and give each action an owner and a deadline.

Step 7 — Record, Communicate, and Review

Write it all down (or enter it into your digital system). Share the findings with affected employees. Set a review date — at least once a year, or sooner if you change products, processes, or quantities.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Copying a generic template without tailoring it — an assessment must reflect your workplace, your products, and your tasks. A properly tailored assessment addresses your specific substances, quantities, and work processes.
Forgetting process-generated substances — wood dust, welding fume, and flour dust are just as much COSHH substances as bottled chemicals.
Not reviewing regularly — an out-of-date assessment is almost as bad as having none at all.
Ignoring the SDS — the Safety Data Sheet is your primary source of hazard information. Read it.

If you run a cleaning company, our COSHH assessment guide for cleaning covers the chemicals and processes specific to your industry. Want to see what a completed assessment looks like? Our 3 worked COSHH risk assessment examples cover bleach, wood dust, and hair colour.

Digital COSHH Assessment vs. Word Template

Word and PDF templates get the job done, but they come with real headaches for growing teams:

Version control — which copy is the latest? Who edited it last?
Review reminders — a Word file will never email you when a review is overdue.
Chemical register — you end up maintaining a separate spreadsheet to track every substance across the business.
Access — staff on-site need to see assessments instantly, not hunt for files on a shared drive.

COSHHmate is being built to solve all of these problems. It will give you a guided assessment builder, an automatic chemical register, review-date reminders, and instant PDF export — all for a flat monthly fee with no per-user charges. If you are tired of wrestling with Word templates, it will be worth a look.

Starting With a Paper-Based Template

If you want to start with a simple paper-based approach, the HSE publishes example COSHH assessment forms at hse.gov.uk. Fill one in using the step-by-step guide above, and make sure you review it at least once a year.

When you are ready to upgrade to something faster and more reliable, join the COSHHmate waitlist — we are building a digital COSHH assessment tool designed for UK small businesses.