If your site has cleaning chemicals under the sink, paint in the store, petrol in the yard or aerosols in a van, you already have a reason to know how to complete a COSHH register. The job is not just paperwork. It is the working record that shows which hazardous substances you use, where they are, what risks they pose and what controls are in place.
For many small and medium-sized businesses, the difficulty is not understanding why COSHH matters. It is getting the register set up properly without wasting half a day on guesswork. A good register should be clear, practical and easy to maintain. If it becomes overcomplicated, people stop using it.
What a COSHH register is meant to do
A COSHH register is a list of hazardous substances used or stored in your business, supported by the key information needed to manage them safely. In most cases, it sits alongside your COSHH assessments and safety data sheets rather than replacing them.
That distinction matters. The register is your index and control document. It helps you track what is on site and links each substance to the right assessment, storage arrangements, handling rules and emergency information. If an inspector, manager or member of staff needs to know what chemicals are present, the register should give them a clear starting point.
Before you complete a COSHH register
The fastest way to get this wrong is to start typing names into a spreadsheet before you know what is actually in the building, vehicle fleet or stores. Start with a physical check. Walk the site, workshops, welfare areas, cupboards, plant rooms and any mobile work areas. Include substances that are bought in regularly as well as items that have been sitting on a shelf for months.
You also need to decide what belongs on the register. COSHH covers more than obvious industrial chemicals. It can include cleaning agents, adhesives, sealants, oils, solvents, cement-based products, paints, resins, pesticides and some substances generated by work activities, such as wood dust or welding fume. Whether every hazardous substance generated by a process is recorded directly on your register can depend on how your documentation is set up, but the key point is consistency. If you manage process-generated substances elsewhere, that should still be clear in your wider COSHH system.
How to complete a COSHH register step by step
The most efficient approach is to build the register around a few fields that are genuinely useful. Too little detail and it becomes vague. Too much and it becomes a burden to update.
1. Record the product name clearly
Use the full product name as shown on the container and safety data sheet. Avoid nicknames such as “blue cleaner” or “degreaser spray” unless you also include the proper name. If two products do similar jobs but have different formulations, they need separate entries.
This sounds obvious, but product names are where many registers become unreliable. If staff reorder a slightly different version of the same cleaner, your old entry may no longer match the current product in use.
2. Identify where it is used or stored
Add the area, department, vehicle, store or task where the substance is found. This helps with stock control, emergency planning and routine checks. It also stops the register becoming a generic list with no connection to actual operations.
If the same product is used across several areas, note that. A single entry can work if the controls are the same. If the way it is used differs significantly between locations, separate COSHH assessments may be needed even if the register entry remains one line.
3. Note the hazardous properties
This is usually taken from the product label and safety data sheet. You are not rewriting the full technical information. You are capturing the main hazard classification in a way that helps people identify the level and type of risk.
For example, a product may be labelled as flammable, corrosive, harmful to health, a skin sensitiser or dangerous to the environment. Keep the wording aligned with the official information rather than inventing your own simplified description.
4. Link the substance to its COSHH assessment
Your register should show whether a COSHH assessment exists and how it is referenced. This could be an assessment number, document code or file name. Without this link, the register is only half-finished.
In practice, this is one of the most useful columns on the page. It allows a manager or supervisor to go straight from the register to the detailed controls, PPE requirements, first aid measures and disposal arrangements.
5. Confirm that the safety data sheet is available
For products supplied with a safety data sheet, record where it is held and whether it is current. This might be in a site file, digital folder or shared compliance system. A register should make it easy to confirm that supporting information is in place, not send people on a chase through emails and cupboards.
Do check the revision date. If your supplier has issued an updated safety data sheet and your register still points to an old version, that is worth correcting.
6. Record key control measures
You do not need to reproduce the full COSHH assessment in the register, but a brief note on the main controls is helpful. This might include local exhaust ventilation, gloves, eye protection, restricted storage, decanting rules or keeping containers sealed.
The level of detail depends on how you use the register. Some businesses keep this field short because the assessment carries the full detail. Others include a brief summary so managers can spot high-risk substances more quickly.
7. Add emergency and storage notes where relevant
Not every entry needs a long comment, but some substances warrant a clear note. Flammables, oxidisers, gases and corrosives often need specific storage arrangements or spill response measures. If a substance must be segregated from others, kept in a locked cabinet or stored away from ignition sources, the register should help flag that.
8. Include review dates and responsible persons
A COSHH register should not be a static file. Add a review date and identify who is responsible for maintaining it. In smaller businesses this may be an office manager, site manager or health and safety lead. The important thing is ownership.
If nobody owns the register, it goes out of date quickly. New products appear, old ones disappear and assessments stop matching what is actually on site.
What information is usually enough
A practical COSHH register usually includes the product name, supplier, area of use, hazardous classification, assessment reference, safety data sheet reference, storage details, key controls and review date. That is enough for most businesses to manage the record properly without turning it into an administrative exercise.
You can add stock quantities or container sizes if this helps with control measures or emergency planning, particularly for petrol, solvents or other higher-risk substances. But there is no value in adding fields just because a template allows it. The register should support action, not create clutter.
Common mistakes when completing a COSHH register
The most frequent problem is treating the register as a one-off exercise. A folder is created, ten products are entered, and then it is forgotten while purchasing changes around it. Six months later, half the products on site are missing from the register and the listed assessments no longer match.
Another common mistake is including products without checking whether they are still in use. Old stock, duplicate lines and discontinued items make the register harder to trust. A short, accurate register is far more useful than a long one full of outdated entries.
There is also a tendency to rely on generic descriptions instead of exact product details. That can create confusion where different products share a similar purpose but require different controls. Finally, some businesses keep the register but fail to maintain the supporting documents. If the safety data sheets and COSHH assessments are missing or out of date, the register alone will not be enough.
How to keep the register current
The easiest way to maintain control is to tie the register to your purchasing and review process. When a new hazardous substance is ordered, it should not reach the workplace until the safety data sheet has been checked, the COSHH assessment completed if needed and the register updated.
That sounds formal, but it saves time later. It is far easier to approve products properly at the point of purchase than to carry out a site-wide clean-up after documentation has drifted.
A scheduled review also helps. Monthly checks may be sensible in busier environments with frequent product changes. In lower-risk settings, quarterly or six-monthly reviews may be enough. It depends on the pace of your operations and the types of substances involved.
Making the process easier
If you are setting this up from scratch, start with a straightforward editable register format rather than building one cell by cell. The best documents are structured enough to keep information consistent, but flexible enough to fit your business. That is especially useful if different sites, contracts or departments handle different materials.
ACI Safety provides editable compliance templates designed for exactly this kind of practical use. The advantage is speed. Instead of creating a register from nothing, you can work from a professional structure and tailor it to your own products, locations and responsibilities.
A COSHH register does not need to be complicated to be effective. It just needs to reflect reality on the ground, link to the right supporting documents and stay current as your business changes. Get that right, and compliance becomes much easier to manage day to day.
