Health Surveillance under COSHH Regulations 2002
COSHH Health Surveillance flowchart. When using Internet Explorer you may need to adjust your browser setting to view this full size on the screen, but it will print.
- What is Health Surveillance?
- Common Indications for Health Surveillance
- How do I know if any other substance may cause health problems?
- How do I Register for Health Surveillance?
- What happens when I have health surveillance?
What is Health Surveillance?
Health surveillance provides a strategy for the early detection within individuals of adverse health changes related to workplace exposure to hazardous substances.
It also helps protect co-workers by providing a secondary measure of the effectiveness of hazard control measures.
However, for health surveillance to be appropriate the following criteria need to be met:
- An individual is exposed to a hazardous substance that is linked to an identifiable disease or adverse health effect; and
- There is a reasonable chance that the disease or adverse health effect may occur under the conditions of work: and
- There are valid techniques for detecting the disease or adverse health effect
Ideally, health surveillance will measure the outcomes of abnormal exposures before any real risk of ill-health occurs (e.g. the metabolites of chemicals in urine). Sometimes though, health surveillance can only identify problems after they have occurred (e.g. allergic sensitisation, which is lifelong) but before complications arise or intensify (e.g. occupational asthma).
Common Indications for Health Surveillance
In the University context, these include exposure risk for:
- Allergens:
- Toxic metals e.g. thallium, mercury, mercuric chloride
- Skin irritants and sensitisers e.g. nickel, cobalt, epoxy resins
How do I know if any other substance may cause health problems?
Your supervisor and Departmental Safety Officer can advise. Substances hazardous to health may include:-
- Substances classified as dangerous to health under the Chemicals Hazard Information and Packing for Supply (CHIP3) Regulations 2002. Many are listed in "The Approved Supply List" (part of the CHIP regulations).
- Substances with occupational exposure limits (specified in HSE Guidance Note EH40-revised annually)
- Biological agents
- Dusts of any kind in substantial concentrations
- If the safety data sheet of any substance in your workplace indicates that it may cause:
respiratory sensitisation (Xn R42 / may cause respiratory sensitisation) or skin sensitisation (Xi R43 / may cause skin sensitisation)
Further information about COSHH is available from the Health and Safety Executive website and the HSE helpline.
How do I Register for Health Surveillance?
You or your supervisor must undertake a RISK ASSESSMENT and consider whether health surveillance is required. Then complete a COSHH Health Surveillance Registration Form (HS1) 
(97kb) which must be signed by your Area Safety Officer before it is sent to the Occupational Health Service.
Please re-register whenever there is a change in exposure. The Occupational Health Service (OHS) should be notified when exposure ceases.
What happens when I have health surveillance?
When you register with the Occupational Health Service for health surveillance under COSHH you will be contacted by the Occupational Health Service for confidential assessment of your exposure to the hazardous substance.
The protocols for health surveillance vary according to the surveillance techniques available. Examples include:
- One-off registration (e.g. some cancer producing agents)Periodic urine checks (e.g. heavy metals)
- Periodic questionnaires (e.g. skin irritants)
- Periodic questionnaire and lung function tests (e.g. for laboratory animal allergy).
In addition, all health surveillance should allow for the reporting by exposed individuals, at any time, of ad hoc health issues or symptoms. For most people, the outcome of health surveillance is that no problem is identified. Where the outcome identifies a potential problem, further assessment may be required of the individual, their work practices and/or their workplace.
All efforts will be made to try and keep the individual at work and early identification of, and action on, health issues greatly assists with this. All reasonable adaptations in the workplace to reduce exposure to a harmful substance will be considered. Very occasionally, it is not reasonably practicable to modify work practices or environment, and to protect the individual a change in the nature of their work is required.
On occasions, occupational diseases identified during health surveillance must be reported to the Health and Safety Executive (under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations - RIDDOR).