Can my company get fined for not monitoring hazardous substances?

Yes, it’s definitely possible. If the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visits your site and finds workers are exposed to substances without proper COSHH assessments or monitoring, they can issue improvement notices, prohibition notices, or fines. The fees for intervention alone can get expensive.

Monitoring isn’t legally required in every situation, but employers must prove they’ve assessed risk properly. If you can’t show evidence, or exposure levels are unknown, it’s viewed as a compliance failure. Serious breaches have led to heavy penalties, especially in industries like manufacturing, woodworking, welding or chemical handling.