Why we publish this, and who writes it

Futureproof publishes an editorial resource on laboratory safety paperwork in the United Kingdom: what the COSHH Regulations ask for, how a safety data sheet is read, and how materials are received, stored, labelled and disposed of in a small laboratory.

Why this exists

The regulations that govern hazardous materials at work in Great Britain are clear, and the guidance published by the Health and Safety Executive is extensive. What is hard is the step in between: turning both into a short, specific set of habits in a workplace too small to have a safety department, where the job usually falls to one person who has other work to do. The same handful of questions come up every time. What does the assessment actually have to say. Which part of a sixteen section data sheet answers which question. What a pictogram means and what its absence does not. Where a delivery should go. What may go down the sink. Those are easier to answer once, properly and in public, than one conversation at a time.

So the site is written as a reference rather than a reassurance. The position behind it is a plain one: the safest moment to think about a material is before anyone opens it. An assessment written before work starts can change what people do. One written a year later mostly describes what they already did.

What we publish, and what we do not

Everything here is descriptive: the duties set out in COSHH and the steps HSE uses to explain them; the structure of a safety data sheet and a practical order in which to read it; hazard pictograms, signal words and hazard and precautionary statements under GB CLP; why an unclassified material is not the same as a harmless one; the difference between hazard and risk; the hierarchy of control; protective equipment standards; goods-in checks; storage by compatibility; labelling of secondary containers; spills and near misses; waste and the duty of care; and keeping an assessment current.

We publish no claims of any kind about any product, material or substance. We describe, recommend, compare and evaluate nothing that is sold anywhere, we give no usage guidance for any material, and nothing here is professional advice for any particular workplace. Where the law applies to your own situation, the source is the legislation and HSE's guidance, and where the stakes are real, a competent person who has seen the actual work.

Who it is written for

• People who have been handed responsibility for a small laboratory's safety paperwork and want to know where to start
• Anyone who has received a safety data sheet and wants to read it in two minutes rather than twenty
• People reviewing an old assessment and wondering whether it still says anything
• Anyone setting up storage, labelling or waste arrangements for the first time

The resource is intended for adult readers aged 18 and over.

Corrections

If something here is wrong, out of date, or reads as more certain than the law or the guidance supports, tell us and we will correct it. Regulations are amended, guidance is revised and common practice moves, and a reference that is not maintained stops being a reference.

Published by

Futureproof 2.0 Ltd, a company registered in the United Kingdom
editor@futureproofpeps.com

This resource is written for adult readers aged 18 and over.