A COSHH cabinet has been made to COSHH specification. COSHH stands for Control Of Substances Harmful to Health. It is a health and safety directive which aims to minimise potential contact with harmful or toxic substances.

A COSHH cabinet is useful in a wide variety of businesses, educational establishments and factories. However, they’re only able to work properly when staff use the right safety protocols.

Here are some tips to keep employee/customer safety to a maximum:

Choose your location wisely

It’s important that you keep your COSHH cabinet in the right place. This means it must be accessible, but out of direct sunlight. Also place it somewhere it will not experience drastic temperature shifts. Consider somewhere that the cabinet won’t be liable to suffer impacts. Also where the contents won’t get too hot. Ideally, it should be an area with some ventilation if possible.

Limit access to the cabinet

You should lock the COSHH cabinet at all times and give access only to the appropriate personnel. Give keys to those who have the relevant health and safety training. Staff should also return items to the COSHH cabinet immediately after they’re done with them.

Read the labels

Hazardous chemicals within a COSHH cabinet will have storage directions on the label. It’s important that everyone who has access to the cabinet reads those directions. This will often inform you of maximum temperatures , as well as other chemicals that substance should not be put with. It is of high importance to read these labels.

Choose the right cabinet

Depending on the specifics of the application, different COSHH cabinets will be appropriate. The right cabinet is one that is large enough to store all of its contents comfortably. Moreover, never over-stuff a COSHH cabinet. If the current one is not big enough it’s far better to simply invest in a replacement.

Finally, think carefully about the substances you use and also buy accordingly.