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Aug 9

COSHH for Beauty Salons & Aesthetics Clinics: Complete Guide

If you own or manage a beauty salon, aesthetics clinic, SPMU studio or training academy, you probably work with more hazardous substances than you realise.

Disinfectants, cleaning chemicals, lash adhesives, nail products, chemical peels, pigments and treatment solutions may all require careful assessment, storage and handling. Having the correct COSHH documents in place helps you protect your staff, clients and business.

This practical guide explains what COSHH means, which products may be covered and what documentation your beauty or aesthetics business should consider keeping.

What does COSHH mean?

COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.

These regulations require businesses to identify substances that could cause harm, assess how people may be exposed and introduce suitable measures to prevent or adequately control that exposure.

Hazardous substances are not limited to products displaying an obvious warning symbol. COSHH can cover chemicals, products containing chemicals, fumes, dusts, vapours, mists, gases and biological agents.

The Health and Safety Executive explains that the purpose of COSHH is to prevent or adequately control exposure to substances that could cause ill health.

Does COSHH Apply to Beauty and Aesthetics Businesses?

COSHH may apply whenever products or substances used during your work could harm someone’s health.
This can include:
- Beauty salons
- Aesthetics clinics
- Nail salons
- Lash and brow businesses
- Hairdressing salons
- SPMU and micro-pigmentation studios
- Tattoo and piercing businesses
- Training academies
- Mobile beauty professionals
- Self-employed practitioners

The HSE provides specific COSHH guidance for beauticians (https://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/industry/beauty.htm), confirming its relevance to the beauty industry.

Even a small clinic or home-based treatment room may use substances that need to be assessed. The size of the business does not remove the need to identify and manage workplace hazards.

Which Beauty and Aesthetics Products May Require a COSHH Assessment?

The products requiring assessment will depend on the treatments you offer and how each substance is used.

Common examples may include:

• Surface and equipment disinfectants
• Cleaning solutions
• Bleach and chlorine-based products
• Acetone
• Nail primers and acrylic liquids
• Lash adhesive and adhesive remover
• Brow and lash tinting products
• Chemical peel solutions
• Alcohol-based products
• Skin preparation solutions
• Tattoo and SPMU pigments
• Anaesthetic products used within the practitioner’s legal scope
• Sterilising or decontamination chemicals
• Aerosols, sprays and treatment mists
• Clinical or hazardous waste substances

Do not assume that a product is safe simply because it is commonly used or available to purchase professionally. Always check the product label, manufacturer’s instructions and current Safety Data Sheet.

What Is a COSHH Risk Assessment?

A COSHH risk assessment examines how a particular hazardous substance is used within your workplace and what must be done to control the associated risks.

It should consider:

• The substance being used
• Its hazardous properties
• Who could be exposed
• How exposure could happen
• The quantity being used
• How frequently it is used
• Existing control measures
• Storage and disposal arrangements
• Emergency procedures
• Whether additional controls are necessary

Possible routes of exposure include inhalation, skin or eye contact, accidental swallowing and injection through the skin.

For example, a chemical peel product might present risks through accidental splashing, incorrect storage, a damaged container or inappropriate disposal. The assessment should reflect how that specific product is handled within your own clinic—not simply repeat general information from its label.

Is a Safety Data Sheet the Same as a COSHH Assessment?

No. This is one of the most common COSHH mistakes made by small businesses.

A Safety Data Sheet, often shortened to SDS, contains important information supplied by the product manufacturer or distributor. It may explain the substance’s hazards, safe handling requirements, storage conditions, first-aid measures and what to do following an accidental spill.

However, an SDS does not assess how the substance is used in your individual workplace.

The HSE clearly states that a Safety Data Sheet is not a COSHH risk assessment. Instead, the information within the SDS should help you complete a suitable assessment based on your working practices.

Beauty and aesthetics businesses should therefore obtain current Safety Data Sheets and use them as part of their COSHH assessment process.

How to Complete a COSHH Assessment

1. Create a hazardous substance inventory
Begin by identifying potentially hazardous substances stored or used within your business.

Check treatment rooms, cleaning cupboards, stock areas, staff areas and mobile treatment kits. Record the product name, manufacturer, intended use, storage location and Safety Data Sheet details.

2. Gather current Safety Data Sheets
Request an up-to-date SDS from the supplier or manufacturer for each relevant product.

Keep the sheets organised and readily accessible. Staff need to be able to locate important safety and emergency information without unnecessary delay.

3. Identify the hazards
Review product labels and Safety Data Sheets for information about:
• Skin or eye irritation
• Chemical burns
• Sensitisation
• Respiratory irritation
• Flammability
• Toxicity
• Environmental hazards
• Incompatible substances
• Spill procedures
• Required first-aid action

Hazard pictograms can provide an immediate warning, but your assessment should consider all the available product information.

4. Decide who could be harmed and how

Consider everyone who may come into contact with the substance, including:
• Practitioners
• Employees
• Trainees
• Clients
• Cleaners
• Contractors
• Visitors
• Young workers
• New or expectant mothers
• People with allergies or respiratory conditions

Think about both routine use and foreseeable incidents such as spillages, splashes, damaged packaging or incorrect disposal.

5. Evaluate current control measures

Determine whether exposure can be prevented altogether. For example, could a less hazardous product or a different working method be used?

Where prevention is not reasonably practicable, suitable control measures may include:
• Secure and appropriate storage
• Adequate ventilation
• Using the smallest practical quantity
• Clearly labelled containers
• Safe dispensing procedures
• Staff training and supervision
• Spill-management procedures
• Restricted access
• Suitable waste arrangements
• Appropriate personal protective equipment

PPE should not automatically be treated as the only solution. The HSE advises that exposure should first be controlled through more reliable measures where possible.

6. Record and implement the findings
A good COSHH assessment should be practical, understandable and relevant to the way the substance is genuinely used.

Share the findings with employees and make sure the required controls are followed. Staff should understand the hazards, safe working procedures and what to do during an accident or emergency.

7. Review the assessment
COSHH documentation should remain current.

Review an assessment when:
• A new substance is introduced
• The supplier changes a product formulation
• A Safety Data Sheet is updated
• Working practices or treatment procedures change
• An incident or near miss occurs
• Existing control measures may no longer be effective
• There is reason to believe the assessment is no longer valid

It is also sensible to include COSHH within your planned compliance-review schedule.

What COSHH Documents Should a Beauty Salon or Clinic Keep?

The documents required will depend on your business, substances and working practices. A well-organised COSHH compliance system may include:
- COSHH policy
- Hazardous substance inventory
- Individual COSHH risk assessments
- Current Safety Data Sheets
- SDS register
- Staff training records
- Chemical spill response procedure
- Emergency chemical exposure procedure
- Safe storage procedures
- Hazardous waste records
- Exposure incident forms
- Near\-miss reports
- Inspection or audit checklists
- Annual review records

Keeping these records organised can make it easier to train employees, respond to incidents, review working practices and demonstrate a structured approach during an inspection.

Common COSHH Mistakes in Beauty and Aesthetics

Keeping Safety Data Sheets without completing assessments
Safety Data Sheets provide essential product information, but they do not replace a workplace-specific COSHH assessment.

Downloading a generic assessment and never adapting it
A template can give you a helpful structure, but the completed document must reflect your products, premises, treatments, staff and control measures\.

Forgetting cleaning and disinfection products
Businesses sometimes focus only on treatment products\. Cleaning chemicals, disinfectants and other routinely used substances must also be considered\.

Relying entirely on gloves
Gloves may form part of your control measures, but they do not eliminate the need to consider safer products, ventilation, dispensing methods, storage and staff procedures.

Storing chemicals in unlabelled containers
Hazardous products should not be transferred into unlabelled or unsuitable containers. Labels and important manufacturer information must remain clear and available

Failing to train staff
Written documents alone do not create a safe workplace. Employees need information, instruction and training relevant to the substances and controls they use.

Completing the paperwork once and forgetting it
Products, suppliers, treatments and working practices change. Your COSHH system should change with them.

Why COSHH Compliance Matters

Effective COSHH management is not simply about collecting documents for an inspection.

It can help your business:
• Reduce workplace exposure
• Prevent injuries and occupational ill health
• Improve chemical storage and handling
• Prepare staff for spillages and emergencies
• Create consistent working practices
• Strengthen staff training
• Support inspection readiness
• Demonstrate professional responsibility
• Protect employees, clients and visitors

It also helps move compliance from scattered paperwork into a system that can be understood and followed.

Purchase our COSHH Compliance Bundle

Creating every policy, form, register and procedure individually can take considerable time—particularly when you are already managing clients, staff, stock and treatments.

The **Advanced Learning Academy COSHH Compliance Bundle** provides a practical starting point for beauty, aesthetics and SPMU businesses wanting to organise their COSHH documentation.

The bundle includes:
- Nine standard operating procedures
- Seven practical forms and records
- COSHH policy documentation
- Risk-assessment resources
- Registers and monitoring documents
- Spill and exposure procedures
- Inspection-preparation guidance

The documents can help you build a clearer, more consistent compliance system. They should always be reviewed and adapted to reflect your own products, services, premises and working practices.

Save time, organise your compliance paperwork and help prepare your business for inspection.

Explore the COSHH Compliance Bundle from Advanced Learning Academy today.

This article provides general educational information and is not a substitute for business-specific health and safety or legal advice. Always consult current HSE guidance and seek competent professional advice when required.