COSHH, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, deliberately excludes asbestos. Asbestos has its own regulations, currently the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, and lead has its own too for the same reason: they are hazards specific enough to need their own rules. A COSHH assessment that lists asbestos as one substance among many has been written by somebody who has not read either instrument.
What COSHH excludes and why
COSHH covers substances hazardous to health generally, and it excludes those that have their own regulatory regime, including asbestos and lead. That is not a lesser standard: the asbestos regulations are more prescriptive than COSHH, with a licensing system, a notification regime, mandatory training, air monitoring and clearance procedures that COSHH has no equivalent of.
What covers asbestos instead
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and its Approved Code of Practice L143. They carry the duty to manage in non-domestic premises, the requirement to identify before work, the licensing of higher risk work, training duties, exposure limits and the rules on waste and clearance. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 sits behind all of it.
What a business should do
Keep the two apart in your paperwork. Cleaning chemicals, dusts, fumes and biological agents go in the COSHH assessment. Asbestos goes in the asbestos register, the asbestos risk assessment and the management plan, with its own named owner and its own review interval. Cross reference them if you like, but do not merge them.
Training is separate too
COSHH training does not satisfy the asbestos training duty. Anyone whose work could foreseeably disturb asbestos has to have asbestos awareness training, and anyone doing non-licensed or licensed work needs more than that. It is a specific duty in the asbestos regulations rather than a general one.
Questions people ask about does coshh cover asbestos
Is asbestos a COSHH substance?
No. It is expressly outside COSHH because it has its own regulations, which are more demanding rather than less.
Do I still need a COSHH assessment?
Yes, for everything COSHH does cover. It simply will not include asbestos, which belongs in its own assessment and register.
Which regulations apply to asbestos?
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 in Great Britain, supported by the Approved Code of Practice L143.