Hazardous substances

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Legislation is an important driver for health and safety, and sets out the key priority areas for industry to work on. Changes are expected with regard to legislation that directly impacts upon the construction industry.

Driven partly by Europe and partly by the Health and Safety Commission's desire to make some existing legislation more effective, several new sets of regulations and a Regulatory Reform Order will be introduced during 2005 and 2006. Use the dropdown for more information on legislation.

For further information on legislation and how it affects you and your business, contact the Health and Safety Executive.


		Hazardous substances

		The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (Amendment) 2004 (COSHH) introduced changes to the way that exposure to certain hazardous substances is measured. The two previous methods of measuring workplace exposure to hazardous substances, Occupational Exposure Standard (OES) and Maximum Exposure Limit (MEL) have been replaced by a single measure of exposure, the Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL). Furthermore, Schedule 2A of the regulations outlines the principles of good practice for the control of exposure to substances hazardous to health. For further information regarding hazardous substances, please contact the Health and Safety Executive web-site – www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH