Hydraulic Oil / Cutting Oil / Mineral Oil
COSHH assessment
A COSHH assessment for hydraulic oil / cutting oil / mineral oil on a UK construction site: what it does to people, how it gets into them, the controls that stop it, the PPE for what is left, and what to do when it goes wrong. Copy it into your assessment and change what does not fit your job.
Hazards to health
Irritant contact dermatitis, oil acne/folliculitis, allergic dermatitis from additives. Long-term skin contact with mineral oils, historic link to skin cancer of forearms and scrotum. Hot oil burns and high-pressure injection injury (medical emergency).
Routes of exposure
Skin contact, Eye contact, Injection (high-pressure)
Control measures
- Closed systems where possible.
- Daily inspection of hoses and fittings, replace any frayed, kinked or weeping.
- Never use a hand to find a leak in a pressurised line, use cardboard.
- Drain to enclosed catch trays.
- Skin checks under health surveillance for fitters.
- Pre-work barrier cream and after-work emollient.
- Clean overalls, do not store oily rags in pockets.
PPE for what is left
- Nitrile or neoprene gloves (oil-resistant), Safety goggles, Coveralls changed when contaminated, Face shield when working on pressurised lines
Emergency procedures
- Skin: wash with soap and water, do not use solvents.
- Eyes: irrigate 15 mins, A&E.
- High-pressure injection injury (any pinprick wound from a hydraulic line): 999 immediately even if pain is initially minor, surgical emergency, tissue necrosis develops within hours.
- Hot oil burn: cool 20 mins, A&E.
Questions people ask
Do I need a COSHH assessment for hydraulic oil / cutting oil / mineral oil?
If the substance is hazardous to health and your work exposes people to it, yes. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, regulation 6, require a suitable and sufficient assessment before the work starts, with the significant findings recorded if you employ five or more. The safety data sheet is an input to the assessment, not a substitute for it. Guidance, not legal advice.
What is the difference between a safety data sheet and a COSHH assessment?
The data sheet is the manufacturer describing the product in general. The assessment is you describing how your people use it on your job: how much, how often, for how long, in what ventilation, with what controls. Two firms using the same tin can have very different assessments.
What is a WEL?
A Workplace Exposure Limit, the maximum airborne concentration averaged over a reference period, set in HSE document EH40. Where one applies to this substance it is stated in the hazards above; where it does not, the duty to reduce exposure so far as is reasonably practicable still stands.
Is PPE enough?
No. COSHH puts PPE last: eliminate the substance, substitute for something less harmful, control at source with ventilation and enclosure, then organise the work to reduce exposure, and only then PPE for what is left. An assessment that jumps straight to gloves and a mask is the kind an inspector questions. Guidance, not legal advice.
How often should it be reviewed?
When the product, the method, the quantities or the people change, if there is any sign the controls are not working, and at least every year or so regardless. Health surveillance may be required where exposure could cause an identifiable disease, such as dermatitis or occupational asthma.
The COSHH assessment writes itself
Pick the substance in the SiteLynx RAMS editor and the COSHH assessment fills in with the hazards, controls and PPE, alongside the HAVS and noise assessments for the tools you chose. Signed on site on a phone. 14 days free.
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