COSHH training online in the UK: where to train and what employers look for

What employers look for in an online COSHH certificate

Your employer decides what COSHH training you need, based on its COSHH assessments. Regulation 12 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 requires employers to give suitable and sufficient information, instruction and training to anyone who may be exposed to a hazardous substance. When an employer checks a certificate, they usually look for:

• Content that follows the current regulations. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 in England, Wales and Scotland, and the 2003 Regulations in Northern Ireland.
• A clear, verifiable record. The course name, hours of learning and completion date, with a way to confirm the certificate.
• The essentials every worker needs. What counts as a hazardous substance, the hazard pictograms, routes of exposure, reading a safety data sheet, the hierarchy of controls, personal protective equipment, storage and spills.
• A refresh date. The regulations expect training to be adapted when things change and repeated as appropriate, so a refresh date matters.

Lift College's certificate does each of these. It records COSHH Training, 1.5 hours of learning, your completion date and a recommended refresh date 12 months on, with a unique certificate number and a verification link. Your employer will also show you the COSHH assessments and safety data sheets for the substances you use, and the course prepares you to read and follow them.

What the Lift College course covers

There are 5 short modules, each with a knowledge check, then a multiple choice final test with an 80% pass mark and unlimited free retakes.

1. What COSHH is. Which substances the regulations cover, including dusts, fumes, biological agents and products you make yourself, and which have their own rules, such as asbestos and lead.
2. Hazards and how they harm. The nine hazard pictograms, signal words and hazard statements, and the routes of exposure: inhalation, skin contact, ingestion and injection. Acute and chronic effects.
3. Labels and safety data sheets. Reading a label, finding the 16 sections of a safety data sheet and using the parts that matter to you: hazards, handling, storage, exposure controls and first aid.
4. COSHH assessments and controls. What a COSHH assessment contains, the hierarchy of controls from elimination and substitution to engineering controls, safe systems of work and personal protective equipment.
5. Working safely every day. Personal protective equipment, storage and segregation, spill response, health surveillance, reporting problems and what to do if you are exposed.

By the end you can recognise the hazard pictograms, find what you need in a safety data sheet, follow the controls in a COSHH assessment, store and handle substances safely, and know what to do after a spill or an exposure.

The law and guidance it is written around

• Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, regulation 12 (England, Wales and Scotland). Employers must provide suitable and sufficient information, instruction and training to employees who may be exposed to substances hazardous to health, adapted to significant changes and repeated as appropriate.
• Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (Northern Ireland). The equivalent regulations for Northern Ireland, with the same duties to assess, control and train.
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2 (England, Wales and Scotland). The general duty on employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees, including the provision of information, instruction, training and supervision.

How Lift College compares with other UK providers

Details below are as each provider shows them on its own course page, checked 16 October 2026. "Check provider" means the page did not state it.

With Lift College the £19.99 is the full price for one learner, with nothing added at checkout, and the refresher is free when your recommended refresh date arrives. Retakes of the final test are free and unlimited.

Who it suits

COSHH Training is for anyone who uses or is exposed to hazardous substances at work in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is for you if:

• you use cleaning products, solvents, paints, oils or adhesives at work
• you work in cleaning, facilities, catering, care, engineering, construction or a salon
• you handle dusts, fumes or biological agents
• your employer has asked you to complete COSHH awareness training
• you supervise people who work with hazardous substances

Asbestos and legionella have their own rules and their own courses: see our asbestos awareness guide and our legionella awareness guide. For general workplace safety, see our health and safety guide. See every course on the health and safety courses page or browse all Lift College CPD courses. Buying for a team? Ask about team enrolment.

Enrol on COSHH Training for £19.99 and start module 1 the minute you pay. Ask within 14 days of paying and we refund you in full.