COSHH is the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002: the law requiring every employer to prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances at work. The regulations sit at legislation.gov.uk with HSE guidance at hse.gov.uk/coshh.
What it means in a play venue
Your COSHH scope is mostly the cleaning cupboard: bleach, descalers, sanitisers, dishwash chemicals. The duties are an assessment for each hazardous product, safety data sheets collected from suppliers, correct dilution and use, locked storage away from children in original labelled containers, and recorded training for everyone who handles the products. The single most important rule is behavioural: never mix cleaning products, because bleach plus an acidic or ammonia-based cleaner releases toxic gas.
Where to go deeper
Our COSHH guide for soft play covers assessments, ball pit cleaning and storage in detail, and connects to your wider risk assessment. SafePlay's Document Vault holds the data sheets and assessments; Staff Compliance keeps the training records that prove the system is real.