LEV is a system that:

• Extracts air to prevent or reduce the level of airborne hazardous substance being breathed in by people in the workplace.
• Draws pollutants such as welding fume, fine dust, wood dust etc., away from a process or operation that is likely to release a hazardous substance into the workroom air.
• Consists of an inlet such as a hood or capture device which is close to the release point of the substance to be controlled.  This hood system or the designed capture system is connected via ducting to the inlet of a fan or air mover.
• The extracted air is then discharged to the atmosphere or returned to the workplace, having first been cleaned and filtered by design.

• Every employer who provides Local Exhaust Extraction equipment to control substances hazardous to health (or COSHH), such as fine dust, wood dust, fume etc., has a legal requirement to examine and test the equipment in order to comply with Regulation 9 of the COSHH Regulations.
• The employer must ensure that LEV equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.
• A thorough examination should be carried out under the HSG 258 Guidance.
• Each Employer must keep a suitable record of the examination for a period of at least 5 years. This record should also include details of repairs carried out as a result of the examination and test.

• Visual Inspection of the LEV System.
• Examination of the fan on the system checking condition and rotation.
• Examination of the duct system and associated dampers, hangers etc.
• Examination of any filters and the dust collector.
• Examination of any re-circulating air system and filtration.
• Testing and logging of system duct velocities.
• Testing and logging of capture device or hoods velocities.
• Smoke and dust lamp tests as appropriate by operation for an assessment of the control effectiveness.
• Examination of site make up air for effective balance between removal and input.
• Qualitative examination looking at how your LEV utilised in the workplace.
• Conclusion of control effectiveness inc. recommendation.
• We look at alterations since first installation or previous testing.
• We take Photographs of system for the certificate (WITH client permission).
• We will check all air flow gauges and any monitoring equipment.
• We produce a system certificate.
• We can create a system logbook if none exists.

Compliance LEV supply a comprehensive report on the LEV system performance along with any recommendation for any action required if we find issues. For new or previously undocumented systems we will provide a user manual and logbook as part of the Compliance package.

Where a system is ‘unsatisfactory’ Compliance LEV will work with you to establish a cost effective compliant solution.