What is a COSHH risk assessment?
COSHH stands for Control of Substances Hazardous to Health. The COSHH Regulations 2002 require every employer and self-employed person who uses hazardous substances at work to assess the risks those substances pose and record the precautions they take.
For cleaners, "hazardous substances" means every chemical product in your kit: bleach, oven degreaser, limescale remover, antibacterial spray, glass cleaner, and anything with a hazard pictogram on the label (the red-bordered diamond symbols). If you carry it into a client's home and spray, pour, or wipe with it, it needs to be on your COSHH assessment.
Do self-employed cleaners legally need one?
Yes. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is clear: if you use any chemical product in your work, you must carry out a COSHH risk assessment — whether you employ anyone or not. A domestic cleaner's van, cleaning caddy, and every client property you enter all count as "the workplace" under the regulations.
The HSE can inspect any workplace at any time. If a client, letting agent, or property manager asks to see your COSHH assessment and you cannot produce one, that is a compliance failure that could block you from contracts, insurance claims, and professional directories.
What does a COSHH assessment actually cover?
A compliant COSHH assessment records four things for every product you use:
- The substance — product name, manufacturer, what it does
- The hazard — irritant, corrosive, toxic, sensitiser (read the label or the Safety Data Sheet)
- The exposure route — skin contact, inhalation, eye splash, ingestion
- The controls — what you do to reduce the risk: ventilation, gloves, goggles, safe storage, dilution ratios, never mixing products
You then sign it, date it, and review it every twelve months or whenever you change products.
Who asks for a COSHH assessment?
In practice, three groups ask cleaners for their COSHH paperwork: