What is not covered by COSHH?
What is not covered by COSHH?
Understanding the hazards and preventing harm to staff is a key responsibility for a veterinary practice. The legal requirements for ensuring that practice team members do not come to harm from substances used at work are laid out in the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (CoSHH) regulations and are part of the RCVS Practice Standards Scheme. In conducting a risk assessment it is important to know what is and what is not covered by COSHH.
How to determine whether a substance is or is not covered by COSHH
When doing a risk assessment product information sheets (often known as datasheets) are used to help determine whether a product is or is not covered by COSHH regulations. This type of information will indicate whether a product contains a substance that is hazardous to health.
Warning phrases to watch for in products information/datasheets
Harmful by inhalation/ contact with skin/ swallowed
Cause of burns
Irritating to eyes, skin or respiratory system
May cause sensitisation
Repeated exposure may cause skin dryness or cracking
Vapours may cause drowsiness and dizziness
Danger of cumulative effects
Possible risk of irreversible effects
May cause cancer
May cause heritable genetic damage
Danger of serious damage to health by prolonged exposure
May impair fertility, or cause harm to unborn child
Veterinary medicines are covered by COSHH
All medicines have the potential cause harm to the people who handle them and so they are covered by COSHH. They include:
licensed veterinary medicines
licensed human medicines used in the treatment of animals under the prescribing cascade
unlicensed medicines, including veterinary specials or any formulation prepared in the practice or by a pharmacist.
COSHH risk assessment is about understanding the risk of harm in practice
Not only is the need to identify the inherent hazard posed by the medicine covered by COSHH, it is also necessary to take into account how the medicine is formulated, how it is being handled and by whom. What is not covered by COSHH is the actual identification of the hazardous substances. That is something that must be done by the person in the practice with responsibility for the risk assessment.
Types of medicines handling in a veterinary practice
In a veterinary practice, the tasks involving medicines include:
dispensing and administering a medicine to an animal in the practice
dispensing a medicine for a client to administer
manipulating a medicine (e.g. crushing tablets)
manufacturing (compounding) a medicine in the practice
cleaning up a medicine spillage
handling medicine-contaminated equipment, body fluids, excreta, bedding etc.
disposing of medicines in the practice and handing them over to a waste management company.
Finding information to enable the risk assessment
It is not surprising that making risk assessments for medicines and their uses in veterinary practice can seem a daunting task. Veterinary practices use a wide range of medicines: they include licensed veterinary medicines, licensed human medicines and unlicensed medicines (often known as ‘specials’). This means that the information needed to make risk assessments isn’t necessarily all in one convenient place.
How Veterinary Prescriber can help
‘Medicines under the COSHH: seven things you can do to handle medicines safely’ is Veterinary Prescriber’s practical guide for anyone who needs to make a medicines risk assessment in veterinary practice. Whether you have a fully embedded Control of Substance Hazardous to Health system, or are just starting to think about the risks from handling medicines, the seven steps can help you protect staff and clients from medicines hazards.
Veterinary Prescriber is an independent medicines information resource that helps veterinary practitioners and practices with all aspects of medicines use. We understand the clinical, practical and regulatory aspects of medicines use. In short, we make sense of medicines. As well as practical guides on medicines use, we publish independent reviews of medicines that help practitioners to make prescribing and purchasing decisions. We're proud to be wholly independent, which means that the information we provide is impartial and not influenced by commercial interests.
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Veterinary Prescriber also offers CPD on medicines for vets, vet nurses and SQPs throughThe Academy. For further details on The Academy itself, what is covered in the CPD modules, or to sign up today,click here - and lastly if you'd like to contact our team directly, you can of course do so using the details you'll find on ourcontact us page.