What is a COSHH assessment?
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New HSE guidance released on safe use of nitrous oxide
- Health & Safety
Peninsula Team, Peninsula Team
(Last updated )
Peninsula Team, Peninsula Team
(Last updated )
Newly published guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) aims to protect midwives exposed to nitrous oxide at work.
Nitrous oxide is commonly known on maternity wards as ‘gas and air’ when it is mixed with oxygen for pain relief during childbirth. It is an invisible gas and has no ill effects when used safely and in measured amounts. However, higher levels of exposure can cause serious health effects, such as neurological problems and anaemia.
Midwives are vulnerable to these health risks because they spend a large part of their working time in labour rooms, meaning they are administering the gas or are in proximity to it.
HSE’s new guidance sets out safe levels of exposure, practical control measures, and how to monitor exposure. It also explains how to incorporate these aspects of health and safety into existing management systems.
As a hazardous substance, nitrous oxide is subject to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH).
UK workplaces use many thousands of different substances, but only 500 substances have designated ‘workplace exposure limits’ or WELs.
Nitrous oxide is one of these substances meaning that a strict limit is placed on the amount of gas that workers can be safely exposed to in a typical working day (averaged at 8 hours).
HSE advises employers who use nitrous oxide to complete a COSHH assessment to remain compliant with the regulations. This is a type of risk assessment that looks at how the gas itself is used, stored, disposed of, and controlled in each area it is used.
Developed with the expertise of maternity specialists in the NHS, the guidance applies not only to maternity wards, but also to professionals working in other parts of the healthcare sector.
Helen Jones, Head of HSE’s health and public services sector called the new guidance “essential”:
“It should be taken on board by those responsible for managing health and safety in maternity units and for controlling the risks faced by staff who work with nitrous oxide. This should include consideration of workers who may be more vulnerable to the effects of exposure, such as those who are pregnant.
“Workers must also be fully consulted when it comes to monitoring how effective the control measures are, including how results are to be used.
“This will include how workers will be managed if results suggest their exposure should be reduced.”
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Peninsula Team, Peninsula Team
(Last updated )
Peninsula Team, Peninsula Team
(Last updated )
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