COSHH and HSE Compliance
COSHH and HSE compliance is the UK workplace safety framework for handling hazardous substances and protecting people from harm. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 both apply directly to bund lining design, installation and operation.
Overview of COSHH and HSE Compliance
COSHH (the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002) is the UK workplace safety legislation governing hazardous substances, enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The framework is risk-assessment driven and built on a hierarchy of control. A coshh bund sits within that hierarchy as an engineering control, working alongside SDS data, WELs, DSEAR and the Confined Spaces Regulations.
How COSHH and HSE Compliance Relates to Bund Design
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations carries direct implications for the way bunds are designed, lined and operated. We engineer every COSHH-relevant bund around the following expectations:
Bund lining as an engineering control
Under COSHH Regulation 7, control of exposure must be by means other than PPE wherever reasonably practicable. A compliant bund lining is a primary engineering control because it removes the spill from the wider workplace before exposure can occur.
Compatibility with the substance SDS
Material selection has to reflect the chemistry on the safety data sheet, including concentration, temperature and any incompatibilities. We document this on every project.
Hazardous spill containment design
The bund must hold the worst credible spill safely without operator exposure, and provide a controlled route for recovery rather than relying on emergency response alone.
Safe inspection and maintenance access
Operatives need to enter the bund periodically. Design must support permit-to-work entry, including ventilation, lighting, slip resistance and decontamination provision.
Confined space considerations
Many bunds qualify as confined spaces under HSE definitions, with implications for entry procedures, atmospheric testing and rescue planning.
Workplace exposure control during maintenance
Vapour, dust and aerosol exposure during cleaning, inspection and repair has to be assessed and controlled, with RPE specified where engineering controls cannot reduce exposure to within WELs.
Decontamination provisions
Drainage to a safe collection point, compatible cleaning chemistry, and emergency wash-down facilities all form part of the wider design.
Adequate documentation
COSHH compliance is evidenced through risk assessments, method statements, SDS records and inspection logs. We supply the lining-specific elements of this evidence pack as part of every project.
COSHH and HSE Compliance by Industry Sector
COSHH and HSE obligations apply across every sector we work in, with sector-specific emphasis on different controls:
Oil, Gas and Petrochemical
COSHH for fuel and chemical handling, with DSEAR layered on top for flammable atmospheres in tank farms, depots and forecourts.
Chemical Processing
COSHH sits at the heart of the regulatory regime, with substance-specific exposure controls and tighter compatibility expectations across multi-product facilities.
Food & Beverage
COSHH for CIP and SIP chemistry (caustic, acid, peracetic, sodium hypochlorite), allergen controls and refrigerant handling (including ammonia under IRR-style controls).
Agriculture & Aquaculture
COSHH for pesticide, biocide and treatment chemistry, supplemented by SSAFO for slurry, silage and fuel oil bunding.
Sewage and Waste Water Treatment
COSHH for reagent dosing chemistry alongside biological hazards (Weil’s disease, biogenic sulphuric acid), with confined space controls central to live-plant work.
Power Generation and Transmission
COSHH for transformer oil, demin plant chemistry, hydrogen gas at generators and battery electrolyte at UPS and BESS installations.
Nuclear Facilities
COSHH for chemical hazards alongside the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (IRR17), with both running concurrently across every active-area operation.
How COSHH and HSE Compliance Shapes Material and Design Selection
COSHH does not just require a bund to exist – it shapes what materials and design features are acceptable. The framework directly influences our specifications in the following ways:
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Material chemical compatibility — the lining must resist every COSHH-listed substance the bund could see at the design concentration and temperature, evidenced through compatibility data linked to the relevant SDS. -
Material safety during application — solvent content, isocyanate exposure, styrene emissions and curing-agent handling are all assessed under COSHH for the operatives applying the system, and our application methods reflect those controls.
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Design for safe spill response — capacity, freeboard, falls and drainage must allow safe recovery of a hazardous substance without exposing operators beyond WELs.
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Slip resistance for operator safety — surface texture is matched to the COSHH and Workplace Regulations expectation that floors are safe to walk on, especially in wet conditions.
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Maintenance access design — entry points, ventilation provision and decontamination routes are part of the design rather than an afterthought, supporting safe permit-to-work activity.
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Inspection-led specification — material choice has to allow visible defect identification during inspection, so condition can be assessed without invasive testing on every cycle.
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PPE compatibility — surface finishes that interact poorly with standard PPE are designed out where possible, and where unavoidable, we record the constraint for the COSHH risk assessment.
Related Regulations
COSHH and HSE compliance does not sit in isolation. The wider regulatory framework that informs and enforces the bund’s wider compliance position includes:
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PPG Guides — Environment Agency guidance on pollution prevention, including the bund capacity and integrity expectations that often align with HSE workplace controls.
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UK Bund Design Requirements — the engineering framework drawn from CIRIA C736, BS EN 1992-3 and sector codes that COSHH design decisions are made against.
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Water Resources Act and EA Guide — the legal framework for protection of controlled waters, with offences and enforcement powers attached.
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COMAH Regulations 2015 — major-hazard chemical site obligations, including containment integrity as a core safety control measure, run by HSE and the relevant environment regulator jointly.
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DSEAR (Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations) 2002 — sister legislation to COSHH, applying to flammable, explosive and oxidising substances.
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Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 — entry procedures, atmospheric testing and rescue planning for bund entry.
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PPE at Work Regulations 2022 — requirements for personal protective equipment used by operatives in or around bunded areas.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Specialist advice is worth seeking on any new substance introduction, change to existing chemistry, multi-product facility, post-incident review or where the regulator has flagged a concern at inspection. We also recommend it whenever a bund’s existing COSHH risk assessment has not been reviewed against modern lining and material options.
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COSHH directly drives the procedures used for inspection and maintenance, including permit-to-work, RPE selection, atmospheric testing, decontamination and confined space controls. Operatives entering a coshh bund must be working under a current risk assessment and method statement that addresses the substance, the engineering controls and the residual risk.
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The most common failures are inadequate substance-to-lining compatibility checks, unrecorded changes in stored chemistry that exceed the original specification, missing PPE and entry procedures during maintenance, and outdated COSHH risk assessments that no longer reflect what is actually held in the bund. Each of these is preventable with a structured compliance review.
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COSHH risk assessments should be reviewed at least annually, immediately following any substance change, after any spill or near-miss, and whenever the lining itself is repaired, replaced or significantly modified. Reviews should be documented and dated, since regulators routinely ask to see the most recent version during inspection.
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We document the lining specification, the substance compatibility data, the application records, holiday and hydrostatic test results, and the ongoing inspection log, and supply each of those as part of the project handover pack. That evidence demonstrates the bund as an engineering control under COSHH and supports the operator’s wider workplace safety case during HSE inspection.
Need Help With Compliance?
Talk to our team about specifying a bund lining system that meets your regulatory obligations.
