Tool 1
Hazard Profile Lookup
Use this first when you need to investigate a substance, compare identifiers, review hazard classifications, and check exposure-limit or toxicity references before drafting.
Browser-based COSHH support
Two research-lab tools: one to investigate hazards, one to draft COSHH assessments.
This site gives research staff and students two connected tools for COSHH work: a hazard profile lookup for substance research and a form builder for drafting, reviewing, and exporting the finished assessment.
Use the hazard tool first to check EH40 workplace exposure limits, PubChem GHS data, and EPA CTX toxicity information, then move into the COSHH form once you are ready to document controls, disposal, and review.
Two tools
Start with the one that matches your next step.
The hazard lookup and the COSHH form are separate tools on purpose. One helps you research substances; the other helps you produce the assessment record.
Tool 2
COSHH Assessment Form
Use this when you are ready to document the task, controls, emergency arrangements, retained materials, waste handling, and review sign-off in a formal assessment.
Who it's for
Designed for the people who actually plan, supervise, and carry out research work.
Research lab COSHH assessments often involve several roles. This page is written to help each of them gather the right information before the form is started.
PI / Supervisor
Set the expectations
Confirm the scope of the work, higher-risk steps, available controls, and who is competent to review the final assessment.
Postdoc / Researcher
Describe the experiment clearly
Translate the protocol into a practical COSHH assessment with real substances, exposure routes, control measures, and waste routes.
PhD Student
Use it as a planning tool
Check that the assessment explains the task well enough that a new researcher understands the hazards, controls, and emergency actions.
Technician / Lab Manager
Ground it in local reality
Make sure storage, supervision, disposal, lone-working restrictions, and room-specific controls reflect how the lab actually operates.
Before You Start
Collect the documents and local information that usually decide whether a COSHH form is any good.
Most weak assessments fail because they are missing one of the basics: the current SDS, the actual protocol, the waste route, or the lab-specific emergency and supervision context.
Core materials
Bring these together before drafting
- Current Safety Data Sheet for each hazardous substance or mixture
- Protocol, method, or experimental plan for the activity being assessed
- Local SOPs for the equipment, room, or hazardous operation involved
- Storage, segregation, decontamination, and waste disposal route
- Emergency contacts, spill arrangements, and first-aid expectations
- Lone or out-of-hours working rules for the lab or facility
Useful links
Research-lab references worth keeping open
Before you fill in the form
Gather the details that make a COSHH assessment usable.
A strong research lab COSHH form depends on good source information. Start with the planned experimental activity, the substances involved, how exposure could happen, and what controls or emergency arrangements are already in place in that lab or facility.
Inputs
Know the substance, activity, and setting
Collect the product name, CAS number if available, supplier details, and the exact experimental or technical activity being assessed.
- Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and label information
- How the substance is used, handled, decanted, stored, or disposed of in the research lab
- Amounts, frequency, duration, and who is involved, such as PhD students, postdocs, technicians, or visiting researchers
Exposure
Describe how harm could occur
Think beyond the substance itself: the route of exposure, the experimental setup, supervision arrangements, and who might be affected all matter.
- Inhalation, skin contact, ingestion, or injection risks
- Who may be exposed, including researchers, technicians, cleaners, visitors, contractors, or adjacent lab users
- Special risks such as aerosols, heating, mixing, pressurised systems, shared equipment, or out-of-hours work
Controls
Document the controls people actually use
A research lab COSHH form is most helpful when it reflects actual local practice rather than generic statements.
- Engineering controls such as fume cupboards, local exhaust ventilation, safety cabinets, or designated prep areas
- Safe systems of work, storage, segregation, waste handling, lone-working restrictions, and supervision arrangements
- PPE, spill response, first aid, emergency procedures, and lab-specific induction or training requirements
Helpful resources
Keep the core references close while you draft.
These are the sources most likely to help when you are checking hazards, workplace exposure limits, and the regulatory context behind a research lab COSHH assessment.
Reference data
Hazard and exposure checks
Use these when identifying classification details, exposure limits, and substance-specific information.
Regulatory guidance
UK COSHH guidance for research labs
Useful starting points for understanding duties, control measures, and the logic behind assessments in active research environments.
Documents
What to have on hand in the lab
These inputs usually save the most time and prevent vague or incomplete assessments in research groups and shared lab spaces.
Good practice
Questions worth asking in a research lab
Use these prompts to pressure-test whether the form reflects the real task and not just the template.
- What is the worst credible exposure during the experiment, setup, cleanup, transport, or spill?
- Are control measures specific, observable, and actually available in that lab or shared facility?
- Could this activity create vapour, mist, dust, fumes, sharps risk, or skin contamination unexpectedly?
- Would a new PhD student, postdoc, or technician know what to do from this assessment alone?
FAQ
Common COSHH questions from research labs.
These are the questions people usually ask before opening the form builder or reviewing an assessment for lab work.
FAQ
What is a COSHH form?
A COSHH form records the hazardous substances involved in a task, the exposure routes, the controls required, and the emergency or disposal arrangements that support safe work.
FAQ
Who should complete one in a research lab?
In most research labs, the person planning or carrying out the experiment drafts the assessment and a supervisor, PI, technician, lab manager, or other competent reviewer checks it before work starts.
FAQ
What should I gather before starting?
Start with the current SDS, the protocol or method, any local SOPs, the waste route, and the lab-specific controls or emergency procedures that apply to the work.
FAQ
Why use EH40 and PubChem together?
EH40 provides UK workplace exposure limits, while PubChem supplies GHS hazard classifications and statements. The hazard profile tool combines both alongside EPA CTX toxicity data so you can research a substance in one place before starting the assessment.
Suggested workflow
Move from source information to a finished assessment in four passes.
The tool works best when you use it as a drafting aid after collecting your source documents, rather than trying to discover everything while filling fields in one go during experiment planning.
01
Collect
Gather the SDS, identify the substance properly, and define the experiment, room, people, and duration.
02
Check
Use the hazard profile tool to look up EH40 WELs, GHS classifications, hazard phrases, and EPA toxicity data before drafting the assessment.
03
Write
Complete the COSHH form with meaningful controls, emergency actions, disposal arrangements, and supervision or SOP details.
04
Review
Sense-check the assessment with the PI, supervisor, lab manager, technician, or other competent person before work starts and export the final record.
Ready to start?
Open the assessment tool and begin drafting for your lab.
The current app runs entirely in the browser and includes draft saving, autosave, reference lookups, and export options for sharing a finished assessment across a lab, facility, or research group.