COSHH training: what the law requires for staff who work with hazardous substances

If your staff use cleaning chemicals, solvents, dusts or anything else with a hazard label, COSHH gives them a right to information, instruction and training. This is what the regulation and HSE say, quoted from legislation.gov.uk and hse.gov.uk on 19 October 2026. It is a summary, not legal advice.

Key takeaways

• Anyone liable to be exposed must be trained, including cleaning and maintenance staff.
• The regulation lists what to cover, from substance names to the risk assessment findings.
• Update it when the work changes; there is no fixed refresher interval.
• Low-risk, well-controlled substances may need only basic instructions.
• Keep basic training records, says HSE.

What regulation 12 requires

COSHH regulation 12 says: "Every employer who undertakes work which is liable to expose an employee to a substance hazardous to health shall provide that employee with suitable and sufficient information, instruction and training." Paragraph (2) says it must include:

• the names of the substances and "the risk which they present to health";
• "any relevant workplace exposure limit";
• "access to any relevant safety data sheet";
• "the significant findings of the risk assessment";
• "the appropriate precautions and actions to be taken by the employee";
• the results of any exposure monitoring and the collective results of any health surveillance.

The same regulation says it must be "adapted to take account of significant changes in the type of work carried out or methods of work used" and "provided in a manner appropriate to the level, type and duration of exposure identified by the risk assessment". Paragraph (4) extends the duty to any person, "whether or not his employee", who carries out work in connection with the employer's COSHH duties.

Who it covers

HSE's COSHH training page says to provide training "for employees who work with substances hazardous to health. This includes cleaning and maintenance staff." It adds: "Employees should have access to safety data sheets", tell them "what to do if there is an accident (eg spillage) or emergency", and "Keep basic training records."

How much is enough, and how often

HSE's approved code of practice L5 says employers should strike a balance, "so where, for example, a substance is being used that is not particularly hazardous and exposure is adequately controlled, basic instructions and training may be all that is required." On timing it says: "Providing information, instruction and training is not a one-off exercise and should be reviewed and updated whenever significant changes are made to the type of work carried out or to the work methods used."

L5 also allows you to turn safety data sheets into "more readable and understandable in-house information and training documents", as long as staff can still see the original sheets.

Turn your COSHH sheets into a course

That in-house version is exactly what a short course is. Reigniter turns your slides or a PDF into an interactive module with a voiceover and a question at each step, such as "where is the spill kit?", shared by a link that opens on any phone. Your first module is free. Paid plans add learner sign-in, results and certificates, which give you the training record HSE asks for; see training without an LMS.

For fire safety, display screens, manual handling, data protection and induction, see what training UK law requires.