Legal duties to protect breathing

Understanding the risks from exposure and how to control these, including Respiratory Protective Equipment

Control of Substances Hazardous to Hea​lth Regulations 2002 (COSHH)

These set out the legal requirements for protecting people at work against risks to their health.

To comply, you need to:

  • assess the risk to health arising from work activities​
  • decide what precautions need to be taken to prevent or control the risk​
  • ensure control measures are used and maintained properly
  • inform, instruct and train workers about the risks and precautions needed​​
  • provide health surveillance as appropriate​​
  • monitor worker exposure​

You can find out more about COSHH on our Common Hazard pages.

Visit our Common hazardous substances page

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

This ​places general duties on employers to ensure that people are not exposed to unnecessary risks to their health or safety arising from the employer’s work activities.

You can find out more about the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act on the HSE site (external site).

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

You can find out about the Control of Asbestos Regulations (external site) on the HSE site.