COSHH Cabinets

KC Supply stocks COSHH cabinets and COSHH cupboards for every common class of hazardous substance — from a compact Bott Verso hazardous substance cupboard at £269.00 up to a full-height, double-width GPC CoSHH security cupboard at £2,575.86. Every chemical storage cabinet in this collection is welded steel, lockable, fitted with spill-retaining shelving or an integral sump, and supplied with regulation labels so what is inside is identified on the door. The GPC range is manufactured in the UK.

COSHH cabinet prices at a glance

Ten ranges, ten price points. Prices below are the live prices on this collection at the time of writing; the cheapest compliant unit here is £269.00 and the largest is £2,575.86.

Cabinet	Sizes	Price
Bott Verso Hazardous Substance Cupboard	5 sizes, 525×350×800mm – 1050×550×2000mm	£269.00 – £859.00
GPC Flammable Cabinets	4 heights, 915w × 483d, 915–1830mm	£1,268.10 – £1,928.82
GPC Hazardous Distribution Cages (mobile)	1655 or 1955mm high × 900 × 600, steel or plywood shelves	£1,293.30 – £1,408.86
GPC Acid Storage Cabinets	4 heights, 915w × 483d, 915–1830mm	£1,319.76 – £1,980.18
GPC Pesticide & Agrochemical Cabinets	4 heights, 915w × 483d, 915–1830mm	£1,319.76 – £1,980.18
GPC Petroleum Storage Chests (outdoor)	610, 965 or 1270mm wide × 630 deep	£1,357.02 – £1,993.14
GPC CoSHH Security Cupboards	1200/1800mm high × 900/1200mm wide × 460mm deep	£1,369.98 – £2,575.86
GPC Hazardous Substance Security Cupboards	1200/1800mm high × 900/1200mm wide × 460mm deep	£1,369.98 – £2,575.86
GPC Heavy Duty Hazardous Materials Cabinet	915w × 483d × 1830h	£1,531.56
GPC Storage Cabinet for Hazardous Substances (vented)	Single all-welded unit with adjustable vent	£2,404.08

COSHH cabinet or COSHH cupboard? The names all mean the same thing

Buyers arrive at this page searching for a dozen different things, and in UK practice almost all of them describe the same product. A COSHH cabinet, a COSHH cupboard, a chemical storage cabinet, a chemical cabinet, a hazardous substance cabinet, a hazardous storage cabinet and a chemical safety cabinet are, for practical purposes, one thing: a lockable steel enclosure with a leak-retaining base, used to keep hazardous substances separate and secure.

Three terms are worth separating out, because they usually mean something smaller:

• A COSHH box or COSHH bin normally means a small portable clip-lid container or a site bin, not a cabinet. Useful for a van or a single job; not a substitute for a fixed store. We do not stock them.
• A COSHH locker usually means a small wall- or floor-mounted cupboard for one shelf of chemicals. The smallest Bott Verso at 525 × 350 × 800mm is what most people mean by this.
• A COSHH cage is a mesh enclosure — either a mobile distribution cage (we stock one) or an outdoor caged store for cylinders and drums, which is a different product entirely. See gas cylinder storage and storage cages.

What matters is not the word on the label but whether the unit is lockable, contains a spill, keeps incompatible substances apart, and is marked for what is inside. There are no COSHH cabinet regulations as such — the COSHH Regulations 2002 set duties about controlling exposure, not a British Standard for cupboards — so our COSHH cabinet requirements guide sets out what compliance actually looks like in practice, and the metal storage cabinets guide covers the wider steel cupboard range if your contents are not hazardous at all.

What should go in a COSHH cabinet?

Anything that carries a CLP hazard pictogram and is not better stored elsewhere. In a typical UK workplace that means cleaning chemicals and disinfectants, solvents and thinners, paints, adhesives, aerosols, fuels and oils in small containers, acids and alkalis, pesticides and agrochemicals, laboratory reagents, and workshop consumables such as brake cleaner and degreaser. If you are not sure which class a container falls into, our guide to COSHH symbols and their meanings decodes the pictograms.

Four things should not go in a COSHH cupboard, and getting these wrong is the most common error we see:

• Gas cylinders. Compressed gases need ventilated storage, normally outdoors in a cage — not a sealed indoor cabinet. See gas cylinder cages and the gas cylinder storage regulations guide.
• Lithium-ion batteries. These are a thermal-runaway risk, not a COSHH risk, and belong in a purpose-built charging or containment cabinet. See lithium battery storage.
• Drum-scale quantities. A 205-litre drum does not belong in a cabinet — it belongs on a bunded pallet or in a drum store. See spill containment and drum storage.
• Incompatible substances together. Concentrated acids beside flammable solvents is the textbook example. Separate cabinets, not separate shelves.

Which COSHH cabinet for which substance?

The COSHH Regulations 2002 ask you to store hazardous substances separately and securely — and different substances need different cabinets. General chemicals and mixed hazardous stores go in the GPC CoSHH Security Cupboard or its twin, the Hazardous Substance Security Cupboard: identical welded 1.5mm steel construction, seven-lever safe lock with an anti-pick mechanism, full-length heavy-duty hinges with concealed fixings to resist forced entry, adjustable spill-retaining galvanised shelves and an integral liquid-tight sump — the difference between the two is the regulation label set supplied.

Flammable liquids need the dedicated flammable range: 1.2mm sheet construction, doors fitted with vertical reinforcement panels to prevent distortion, a return flange around doors and joints to resist the passage of flame, and all-metal locks and handles so nothing melts under fire attack. GPC state the range is designed to comply with the Flammable Liquid Storage Regulations (1972) as appropriate and with HSE guidance notes HSG51 and CS19, and to comply with Factory Inspectorate Certificate of Approval No. 1, Parts 3 and 4. Units are finished in stove enamel yellow and supplied with labels to BS5378.

Acids and corrosives take the acid cabinet and pesticides and agrochemicals the agrochemical cabinet — both share the same 915mm-wide, 483mm-deep, four-height format as the flammable range, with adjustable galvanised shelves at 75mm centres that reverse to work as spill trays. If you hold both flammables and agrochemicals and have room for only one cupboard, the vented Storage Cabinet for Hazardous Substances is the sensible answer: it carries an adjustable vent that meets the flammable requirement closed and the agrochemical requirement open, in a single all-welded unit.

Petrol and Class A liquids stored outdoors go in a petroleum storage chest — welded and constructed to A.P.E.A. requirements, labelled in accordance with the Petroleum Consolidation Act 1928 and conforming to BS5378 and EC Directive 92/58/EEC, with a sloping weather roof (810mm at the rear, 610mm at the front), a hasp and staple for padlocking, and a removable sump for cleaning out spillage. The flammable cabinet vs COSHH cabinet guide settles the most common mix-up of the lot.

Do COSHH cupboards need to be locked?

Yes — in practice this is not optional. Restricting access to people who have been trained to handle what is inside is one of the basic control measures COSHH expects, and an unlocked cupboard fails it however good the steel is. Every cabinet in this collection locks: the Bott Verso uses a three-point locking system, the GPC heavy-duty ranges are fitted with all-metal security locks and two keys, and the CoSHH security cupboards use a seven-lever safe lock with concealed hinge fixings for sites where theft or deliberate misuse is a genuine risk. Keys should be held by named, trained staff — not left in the lock, which is the single most common audit finding on an otherwise compliant store.

Where should a COSHH cupboard be located?

Position matters as much as the cabinet. Site it in a well-ventilated area, away from direct heat and ignition sources, clear of walkways and — critically — never blocking or immediately beside a fire escape route. Keep hazardous stores away from food preparation, welfare and rest areas. Where the contents give off vapour, choose a unit you can vent, or site it where local exhaust ventilation can reach.

Petrol and Class A liquids are the exception that proves the rule: they are normally stored outdoors, which is exactly what the petroleum storage chest is designed for, with its sloping weather roof. And bear in mind the practical constraint before you order — GPC state that a forklift is needed to unload a petroleum storage chest, so arrange the offload before it arrives.

Do COSHH cupboards have to be yellow?

No — there is no legal colour for COSHH storage. Yellow is the industry convention for hazardous substance cabinets and most of this range follows it (the Bott Verso in high-visibility RAL 1023 safety yellow, the GPC flammable and hazardous materials cabinets in stove enamel yellow). What the regulations actually care about is that the cabinet is secure, contains spills, and is correctly labelled for what is inside. A red cabinet correctly marked for corrosives is compliant; a yellow cabinet with no signage and an open door is not.

COSHH cabinet signage and labels

Signage is the requirement people most often skip, and it is the cheapest part of the job. Every cabinet here ships with the appropriate regulation labels for the door — on the GPC CoSHH security cupboards these are enclosed for the customer to fit to suit the substances actually stored, which is the right way round, because the pictogram has to match the contents rather than the catalogue. The Bott Verso carries safety labelling compliant with BS EN ISO 7010:2012+A5:2015, and the GPC flammable range is supplied with labels to BS5378. We do not sell stand-alone COSHH signage beyond what comes with each cabinet.

Is a COSHH cabinet fire resistant? An honest answer

This is the question worth reading carefully, because the search term "fire resistant cabinet" covers two genuinely different specifications and the difference is thousands of pounds.

The GPC flammable, acid and agrochemical ranges are built for flame resistance by construction: 1.2mm sheet, welded seams, a return flange around every door and joint to prevent the passage of flame, and all-metal locks and handles that will not melt under fire attack, designed to the HSG51 and CS19 guidance for flammable liquid storage. That is what UK industry generally means by a flammable storage cabinet, and it is what the great majority of COSHH installations use.

It is not the same thing as a type-tested fire-rated cabinet to BS EN 14470-1, where a cabinet is furnace-tested and classified as Type 30 or Type 90 according to how many minutes it keeps its internal temperature down in a fire. If your fire risk assessment, insurer or DSEAR assessment specifically calls for a 30-minute or 90-minute rated cabinet, this range is not it, and we would rather tell you now than after delivery. We do not currently stock type-tested BS EN 14470-1 cabinets. Where the requirement is a rated cabinet, buy one from a specialist that publishes the test classification.

What size sump does a COSHH cabinet need?

The convention applied across UK bunding is that secondary containment should retain at least 110% of the largest single container, or 25% of the total volume stored, whichever is greater — and above roughly four or five identical containers it is the 25% test that governs, not the 110% one. Every cabinet in this collection has either an integral liquid-tight sump in the base or reversible galvanised shelves that double as spill trays.

One honest caveat: GPC does not publish a sump capacity in litres for any cabinet in this range, and we will not estimate one from the footprint. If your COSHH or DSEAR assessment sets a specific retention figure, tell us the number and we will confirm it against the manufacturer's drawing before you order. Our COSHH cabinet sizes and capacities guide works through how to size a cabinet to a substance list.

Small COSHH cabinets from £269

If you need a small COSHH cabinet — a single shelf of cleaning chemicals, a workshop's worth of aerosols and thinners — you do not need a £1,400 full-height cupboard. The Bott Verso hazardous substance cupboard starts at 525 × 350 × 800mm for £269.00, in high-visibility RAL 1023 safety yellow, with reinforced welded steel construction, a three-point locking system and doors that open to 180° for full access. Bott describe it as designed to align with HSE guidance and best practice. Five sizes run up to a 1050 × 550 × 2000mm full-height unit at £859.00 — a genuinely economical route into compliant COSHH storage, and the answer to the question we are asked most: yes, you can buy a small COSHH cabinet in the UK without paying heavy-industrial prices.

Large COSHH cupboards for site stores

At the other end, a large COSHH cabinet for a maintenance store or a chemical stores room: the 1800mm-high GPC cupboards in 900mm or 1200mm widths give two-door, full-height capacity with adjustable spill-retaining galvanised shelves, so a leaking container is caught on the shelf rather than reaching the floor. Every GPC security cupboard is powder coated with Germ Guard Active Technology anti-bacterial paint and carries heavy-duty hinges down the full door edge. The 1830mm heavy duty hazardous materials cabinet at £1,531.56 is the single-unit alternative: 0.9mm sheet mesh with formed and welded seams, vertical door reinforcement, removable galvanised shelves and a drip tray that adjust to 75mm centres, and GPC's statement that it meets the requirements of the COSHH Regulations.

COSHH cabinets with drawers — and why we don't sell them

"COSHH cabinet with drawers" is one of the most common related searches on this term, and the honest answer is that nothing in this range has drawers. Every cabinet here uses adjustable shelves, for a good reason: a shelf that reverses into a spill tray retains a leak, and a drawer running on slides generally does not. If you specifically want drawers for small hazardous consumables, look at a workshop drawer cabinet used alongside a COSHH cupboard rather than instead of one — see workshop storage — and keep anything with a hazard pictogram in the cupboard.

What a COSHH cabinet costs — four honest price bands

Search results for COSHH cabinets mix products that are nothing like each other, so it helps to know which tier you are in before you compare prices.

• Under £150 — retail and DIY-shed cabinets. Thin-gauge lockers and clip-lid boxes sold through general retailers. Fine for a single shelf of domestic cleaning products. We do not sell this tier and cannot beat it on price.
• £269 – £859 — light-commercial cupboards. Where the Bott Verso sits: proper welded steel, three-point locking, correct labelling, five sizes. The right answer for most offices, kitchens, small workshops and single-team stores.
• £1,268 – £2,076 — heavy-duty single-class cabinets. The GPC flammable, acid, agrochemical, petroleum and hazardous-materials ranges. Specified when the substance class is regulated, an audit is involved, or the store is a genuine industrial one.
• £2,092 – £2,576 — full-height, double-width security cupboards. Two-door 1800 × 1200 CoSHH security cupboards and the vented dual-purpose unit. Specified for chemical stores rooms and where security matters as much as containment.

If your budget is the first band and your risk assessment demands the third, the assessment wins. If it is the other way round, do not over-buy: a £269 cupboard that is correctly sited, locked and labelled beats a £2,000 one that is propping a fire door open.

Need a mobile COSHH cage?

Where substances move around a site rather than sitting in one store, the GPC hazardous distribution cage is a lockable COSHH cage on castors — two fixed, two swivel — with two adjustable shelves rated at 1000kg UDL each, in steel mesh or plywood, at 1655 or 1955mm high × 900 × 600. It is the same separate-and-secure principle, made mobile for distribution between buildings.

Lead times, delivery and keeping the cabinet compliant

These are engineered steel units, not flat-pack. Larger GPC cabinets are built to order, a petroleum storage chest needs a forklift to unload, and full-height double-width cupboards need a clear route in — measure the doorway, not just the wall. Once installed, a COSHH cupboard is work equipment like any other: check the door seal and hinges, keep the sump clean and dry (a sump half-full of old spillage has lost the capacity you bought it for), replace labels when the contents change, and keep the key controlled. None of that is expensive; all of it is what an inspector looks at.

What we don't sell — and where to look instead

We keep this collection honest. We do not stock plastic or poly bunded COSHH cabinets, benchtop COSHH containers or clip-lid COSHH box and COSHH bin formats, stand-alone COSHH signs and labels beyond those supplied with each cabinet, cabinets with drawers, or type-tested BS EN 14470-1 Type 30/Type 90 fire-rated cabinets — the GPC flammable range is designed to resist flame penetration to HSG51 guidance, which is a different specification from a tested fire rating, and we would rather you knew the difference before buying. Gas cylinders do not belong in a COSHH cupboard — they need ventilated outdoor storage, covered in our gas cylinder storage range. Lithium batteries have their own charging and containment cabinets in lithium battery storage, and the safe charging guide explains why. For drum-scale liquids, see spill pallets and containment and the oil drum storage guide.

Browse the full hazardous storage range, or go straight to the flammable cabinets, acid storage cabinets or pesticide & agrochemical cabinets sub-ranges. If your contents are not hazardous at all, the industrial cupboards range and the steel cupboards vs lockers guide are the better starting points. These are the COSHH cabinets UK trade buyers specify when the audit matters — welded steel, real sumps, seven-lever locks, and COSHH storage that does what the label says.

This page is general guidance, not a substitute for your own COSHH and DSEAR risk assessments. Always follow the safety data sheet for each substance and current HSE guidance.