GPAtlasWhat it covers
The hazardous substances a GP practice really holds, from chlorine-releasing granules and formalin pots to liquid nitrogen, latex gloves and blood. How the COSHH assessment, the order of controls, labels and safety data sheets keep exposure down. What to do first when something spills, splashes or is breathed in, how to look after your skin, and what has to be reported.
Who it is for
Everyone in a GP practice who uses, stores or cleans up hazardous substances: cleaners, healthcare assistants, nurses, GPs who do cryotherapy or minor surgery, reception staff who take in samples, and the practice manager who keeps the COSHH assessments.
By the end you will be able to
- Recognise the hazardous substances in a GP practice and how each can harm you.
- Read GB CLP pictograms, hazard labels and safety data sheets before using a product.
- Explain the COSHH assessment, the order of controls, and the duties on you and the practice.
- Store, decant, label and use substances safely, with the right PPE and skin care.
- Handle chlorine agents, formalin, liquid nitrogen, latex and blood with their own precautions.
- Act first on a spill or exposure, then report it, including under RIDDOR.
Modules
- What COSHH covers in a practice
- Labels and safety data sheets
- Controls, storage, PPE and skin
- Substances with their own risks
- Spills, exposure and reporting
This course follows the law in Great Britain and covers the knowledge only. Your practice's own COSHH assessments, safety data sheets and spill procedures set the local detail, and practical tasks such as filling a liquid nitrogen flask are shown to you on site by someone competent.
Content mapped to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended), HSE's Approved Code of Practice L5 (sixth edition, 2013) and HSE's brief guide to COSHH, INDG136. Law named: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended), regulations 6 to 13.
Sources
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, regulation 2: interpretation, including 'substance hazardous to health', 'biological agent' and 'carcinogen'
- COSHH 2002, regulation 3: duties extend, so far as reasonably practicable, to others affected by the work
- COSHH 2002, regulation 5: exclusions for lead, asbestos, hazards solely from radioactivity, flammability, high or low temperature or high pressure, and substances given in medical treatment
- COSHH 2002, regulation 6: assessment of the risk, its review, and the record for five or more employees
- COSHH 2002, regulation 7: prevention or control of exposure, substitution, order of priority, carcinogens and biological agents
- COSHH 2002, regulation 8: use of control measures and the employee's duty to report defects
- COSHH 2002, regulation 9: maintenance of control measures and personal protective equipment
- COSHH 2002, regulation 11: health surveillance and health records kept for at least 40 years
- COSHH 2002, regulation 12: information, instruction and training, including access to safety data sheets
- COSHH 2002, regulation 13: accidents, incidents and emergencies, and the employee's duty to report release of a biological agent
- COSHH 2002, Schedule 2A: principles of good practice for the control of exposure
- COSHH 2002, Schedule 3: additional provisions for biological agents, including the four hazard groups
- Control of substances hazardous to health, Approved Code of Practice and guidance L5 (sixth edition, HSE, 2013): paragraphs 14 and 15 (asphyxiants, confined spaces), 87 to 89 (substitution), 237 (wet work in healthcare) and 252 (health records)
- Working with substances hazardous to health: a brief guide to COSHH, INDG136(rev5) (HSE)
- COSHH basics: overview (HSE)
- What is a substance hazardous to health (HSE): COSHH covers gases and asphyxiating gases, and biological agents
- How to carry out a COSHH risk assessment (HSE)
- Substance substitution (HSE)
- COSHH health surveillance (HSE)
- Emergencies: be prepared (HSE, COSHH basics)
- EH40/2005 Workplace exposure limits (fourth edition, HSE, 2020): formaldehyde 2 ppm, and asphyxiants
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 7: general duties of employees
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 9: no charge for things required by the relevant statutory provisions
- GB CLP: Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 as it applies in Great Britain, Annex V: hazard pictograms and the hazard classes each covers
- GB CLP, Annex I, section 1.5: small packages up to 125 ml keep their hazard pictograms, so a formalin pot shows the health hazard pictogram
- Hazard pictograms (symbols) (HSE)
- Hazard statements, precautionary statements and signal words (HSE)
- Cleaning products and GB CLP: the corrosive and exclamation mark pictograms (HSE)
- The GB mandatory classification and labelling list (HSE, last updated 22 September 2025): formaldehyde Carc. 1B H350 and Skin Sens. 1A; troclosene sodium EUH031
- Safety data sheets (HSE, chemical classification)
- Chemical safety data sheets (HSE, COSHH basics): a data sheet is not a risk assessment
- UK REACH, Article 2(6): the data sheet rules do not apply to finished medicines, cosmetics, certain medical devices or food
- UK REACH, Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 as it applies in Great Britain, Article 31: requirements for safety data sheets
- UK REACH, Article 35: access to information for workers
- Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, Schedule 1, Part III: signs on containers and pipes
- Choosing the right gloves to protect skin: a guide for employers (HSE)
- Latex allergies (HSE, skin at work)
- Latex allergies in health and social care (HSE)
- Dermatitis in health and social care, including health surveillance for occupational contact dermatitis (HSE)
- Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, regulation 3: disapplication where COSHH requires PPE
- Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, regulation 4: provision of personal protective equipment
- Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, regulations 10 and 11: use, and reporting loss or defect
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3: risk assessment
- Confined Spaces Regulations 1997, regulation 1: meaning of confined space and specified risk
- Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009, regulation 1: citation
- Code of Practice 30, revision 3 (British Compressed Gases Association, 2019), superseded: first aid for cold burns, cryogenic PPE, liquid soaking through woven fabric
- Code of Practice 30: the safe use of liquid nitrogen dewars, revision 4 (British Compressed Gases Association, 19 December 2024): 1 to 683 expansion, cold gas collects low, lifts avoided, dewars not carried inside vehicles, rescue only with breathing apparatus
- Code of Practice 52: the management of risks from gases in the workplace (British Compressed Gases Association, 2023), appendix 5: movement of gases in lifts, nobody accompanying
- GP mythbuster 86: Storing liquid nitrogen (Care Quality Commission, updated 23 December 2022)
- Safe use of chlorine-based disinfectant chemicals guidance (NHS Employers, NHS Staff Council Health, Safety and Wellbeing Group, 2023)
- National infection prevention and control manual for England, version 2.12 (NHS England, 24 July 2025): 1,000 ppm available chlorine on sanitary fittings; Appendix 9 spills (no chlorine directly on urine, 10,000 ppm for blood); Appendix 10 exposure incidents
- Appendix 9: management of blood and body fluid spills (NHS England, national infection prevention and control manual)
- Formalin: handling and spillages (Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, histopathology)
- Legal information on bloodborne viruses (HSE): HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C are hazard group 3
- How to deal with an exposure incident at work (HSE)
- Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, regulation 4: non-fatal injuries to workers
- RIDDOR 2013, regulation 8: occupational diseases, including dermatitis and asthma
- RIDDOR 2013, regulation 9: exposure to carcinogens, mutagens and biological agents
- RIDDOR 2013, Schedule 2, paragraph 10: dangerous occurrence involving a biological agent
- Reporting injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences in health and social care, HSIS1 (HSE): sharps injuries
- Eye injuries (NHS website, reviewed 12 March 2026): rinse for at least 20 minutes; 999 for a strong chemical
- Acid and chemical burns (NHS website)
- Poisoning (NHS website)
GPAtlas is not accredited, verified or endorsed by Skills for Health or NHS England. Acceptance of this training is at the discretion of your employer, who remains responsible for confirming it meets local requirements. Your employer may require more frequent refreshers than the guidance period; the practice's own policy applies. Some pictures and films in our courses, and the film narration, are made with AI tools. We check every one for accuracy before we publish it.