Your legal obligation
Why garden maintenance workers need a COSHH assessment
Health and safety responsibilities depend on the work you do, who could be affected and whether you employ anyone. Relevant hazards in gardening and garden maintenance can include mowers and powered tools, flying debris, manual handling, noise, uneven ground and public access. Risk assessment and appropriate controls are central to managing those risks. Written records and specific policies may be required depending on your circumstances; for example, employers with five or more employees must record significant risk assessment findings. Check current HSE guidance and any sector-specific requirements. A purchased pack helps you organise your information but does not replace inspecting your own workplace, implementing controls or obtaining specialist advice when needed.
The real problem
Garden maintenance COSHH documentation often covers only the most obvious pesticide and misses the full product range
Free templates can be helpful, but you still need to work out which hazards and controls apply to your gardening and garden maintenance business. Our questionnaire uses your answers to tailor the pack, giving you a clearer starting point to check, adapt and implement.
£47.99 one-off
Five personalised core PDF documents plus five supporting Word files. No subscription. Access, edit and regenerate your core documents in your account for 12 months; review them before use.
Your trade, specifically
The risks and requirements specific to your work
Garden maintenance contractors handle multiple hazardous substances daily: glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup, paraquat alternatives, fungicides containing sulphur or copper compounds, insecticides such as pyrethroid formulations, and moss killers with ferrous sulphate. You work with petrol-powered equipment including strimmers, hedge cutters, chainsaws and leaf blowers that generate noise exposure above 85 decibels, requiring noise risk assessment. Skin contact occurs constantly with fertilisers containing ammonium nitrate, pesticide residues on foliage, and dermatitis-triggering substances like plant sap and soil contaminants. Your workplace varies daily: domestic gardens with unpredictable hazards, commercial sites requiring site-specific protocols, and wet conditions that increase chemical absorption through compromised skin. You store chemicals in garden sheds with temperature fluctuations affecting stability, transport concentrated products in vehicle cabins, and dispose of empty containers without formal waste protocols. Hand dermatitis develops from repeated wet work, inadequate glove changes, and cumulative chemical exposure. Respiratory risks emerge from dust inhalation during hedge cutting, spray drift from application equipment, and fume exposure during equipment maintenance. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires you to conduct proper COSHH assessments before using any of these substances, yet most sole traders operate without documented hazard identification or control measures.
The cost of getting it wrong
What happens without proper documentation
Poorly managed health and safety can lead to accidents, disruption, enforcement action or claims, depending on the circumstances. For gardeners and garden maintenance businesses, sensible priorities include mowers and powered tools, flying debris, manual handling, noise, uneven ground and public access. Buying documents alone does not remove those risks; the important step is to assess the work and follow appropriate controls.