The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently announced a new isocyanates awareness and inspection campaign aimed at reducing the health risks posed by isocyanate exposure in UK workplaces. As the HSE’s attention turns increasingly toward occupational lung disease and chemical safety, this initiative re-emphasises the urgency for duty-holders to review their control strategies, health surveillance, and compliance under COSHH.
In this post, we summarise the key points of the campaign, explore why isocyanates remain a major health hazard, and offer practical steps your organisation can take to stay ahead of regulatory scrutiny
Why is this campaign important?
Isocyanates are widely used chemicals—particularly in spray paints, adhesives, foams, and coatings—that are well-known respiratory sensitisers and irritants. Even low-level exposure may trigger occupational asthma in sensitised individuals, and once sensitisation occurs, further exposure—even to minute amounts—can provoke severe reactions.
Historically, isocyanates have been a significant contributor to work-related asthma cases in sectors including motor vehicle repair, spray painting and coatings, and polyurethane manufacturing. Over recent decades, improvements in control and monitoring have driven down incidence in some sectors—but complacency or weak controls allow residual risk to remain. )
Moreover, in its 2025–2026 priorities, HSE has signalled greater focus on occupational lung disease, including exposures to isocyanates, silica dusts, and other chemical hazards. The timing of this campaign suggests inspections and compliance checks will intensify.
What is the HSE campaign focusing on?
From the campaign bulletin, key elements include:
- Awareness-raising: Ensuring duty-holders understand that isocyanate exposure is not just a paint-shop issue.
- Inspection regime: Targeted inspections to verify that control measures, monitoring and health surveillance systems are adequate and effective.
- Guidance and support: HSE is providing resources and references to help businesses comply.
Essentially, HSE wants to push beyond education and move toward enforcement where control is lacking.
What are the regulatory requirements and best practices?
COSHH & legal duties
Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations, duty-holders must:
- Identify hazardous substances (including isocyanates) in their processes.
- Assess the risk of exposure.
- Select and implement proportionate control measures (engineering, administrative, RPE, PPE).
- Monitor exposure (air monitoring, biological monitoring) where needed.
- Provide health surveillance where workers are likely exposed.
Importantly, because isocyanates are sensitisers, exposure must be reduced as far as is reasonably practicable (ALARP).
Workplace Exposure Limits (WELs)
UK limits for isocyanates are:
- Long-term (8-hour TWA): 0.02 mg/m³
- Short term (15-minute TWA / STEL): 0.07 mg/m³
Even when exposures remain below these limits, it’s not “safe” per se—because of the risk of sensitisation. Controls must aim for as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP).
Monitoring and health surveillance
- Air monitoring: to check whether control measures keep airborne isocyanate levels within acceptable bounds.
- Biological monitoring: urine sampling to detect isocyanate breakdown products; useful for confirming whether controls are effective.
- Health surveillance: respiratory (spirometry, questionnaires) and skin checks—especially in sectors like vehicle repair, coating, spray painting.
If monitoring indicates exposures exceed guidance, duty-holders must investigate and improve controls, then re-monitor.
Control measures: hierarchy of control
- Elimination / substitution (where possible): use alternative materials or processes with lower hazard.
- Engineering controls: closed systems, local exhaust ventilation (LEV), spray booths with capture, proper mixing enclosures.
- Administrative controls: training, rotation, safe operating procedures, permit-to-work systems when undertaking maintenance or cleaning.
- Respiratory protective equipment (RPE): where airborne levels are significant or unpredictable, an air-fed / supplied air breathing apparatus (not filtering respirators) is required for tasks like spray painting.
- Skin protection: gloves, coveralls, splash protection—because dermal exposure can also contribute to sensitisation.
Notably, HSE warns that raising the visor during spraying—even briefly—can dramatically increase operator exposure, undermining protection.
What should you do now?
Given the renewed regulatory focus, we suggest the following action plan:
- Review your substance inventory and SDSs
Identify all products containing isocyanates, including those labelled as “waterborne” that may still use isocyanate components. - Update COSHH risk assessments
Reassess tasks (especially spraying) using the “Assess–Control–Review” model. Pay attention to the increased risks of mist, enclosed spaces, proximity, and maintenance tasks. - Audit engineering and ventilation systems
Ensure LEV or capture systems are correctly specified, maintained, and effective. For spray booths and high-risk operations, confirm airflow rates, filtration, and exhaust arrangements. - Implement or strengthen monitoring programmes
- Air sampling at operator breathing heights.
- Biological monitoring (urine sampling) per HSE guidance.
- Conduct trend analysis and use results to drive improvements.
- Ensure robust health surveillance
Initiate baseline and periodic respiratory testing (spirometry) and questionnaires. Monitor for early signs of asthma or dermatitis. - Train and empower workers
Provide training on hazards, safe procedures, correct use of RPE, posture regarding spraying behaviour (no lifting visor), cleaning protocols, and emergency response. - Plan for inspections
With HSE increasingly inspecting chemical and lung disease risks, be ready to demonstrate your control regime, monitoring records, surveillance records, and risk management approach.
Final thoughts
HSE’s new isocyanates awareness campaign is a clear signal: chemical health hazards cannot be relegated to “secondary” concerns. Organisations that underestimate or neglect isocyanate risks may find themselves under closer regulatory scrutiny—or worse, causing serious harm to your workers and facing significant liability.
If your operations involve coatings, spray painting, adhesives, or foam systems, now is the time to audit your control measures, refresh your assessments, and ensure monitoring and health surveillance are robust. Outsource Safety can assist with reviewing risk assessments, designing monitoring regimes, or advising on compliance strategies—please feel free to contact us to discuss your options for support under Safety~net, our Competent Person Scheme.
