LEV Testing · Birmingham
Birmingham was built on making things, and it still is - the Jewellery Quarter, the Tyseley and Washwood Heath workshops and the bodyshops all raise fume, mist and dust the law says must be controlled. We examine and test local exhaust ventilation to HSG258 and certify it.
Birmingham has made things for three centuries and still does, and wherever a process raises fume, mist or dust the law requires local exhaust ventilation that actually controls it. The Jewellery Quarter's polishing, casting and plating, the machine shops of Tyseley and Washwood Heath, the woodworking units and the bodyshop spray booths across the city all depend on LEV that has to be examined and tested.
LEV is not a fit-and-forget system. Filters clog, ducts fur, fans lose pull, and a hood that captured on the day it was installed can quietly stop controlling the exposure. We carry out thorough examination and testing to the HSE's guidance, HSG258, across Birmingham - measured capture and face velocities at the working points, a clear verdict against how the system should perform, and a report and label whose next-due date you can rely on.
CNC and manual machining raises oil mist and metal dust at the enclosure and bench that has to be captured at source.
Flour, powders and steam need capture at the mixing and process points, from bakeries to production kitchens.
Saws, sanders and routers throw fine wood dust that has to be drawn off at the tool and the bench.
Weld fume and grinding dust need capture at the arm and booth, wherever steel is fabricated.
Bodyshop spray booths and prep bays carry paint mist and solvent vapour that the extraction has to hold and clear.
Fume cupboards, safety cabinets and dental and salon extraction all count as LEV and all fall due on the same clock.
Real jobs, described by sector and area - never by a client's name.
In a Jewellery Quarter workshop off St Paul's Square, the polishing bench extraction that clears the fine metal and rouge dust had lost pull. We measured capture at each station, found a furred duct and a tired fan, set out exactly what to put right, and re-tested to confirm the control before certifying.
At an engineering unit in Tyseley, the oil-mist extraction over the CNC line needed its thorough examination. We measured capture at the enclosures and the transport velocity through the system, benchmarked it against the design, and labelled it with the readings and the date the next test falls due.
Condition of hoods, ducting, filters and fan - the damage, blockage and wear that quietly drops performance.
Measured capture and face velocities at the working points, plus transport velocity and static pressure through the system.
The readings assessed against how the LEV should perform to actually control the exposure - not just whether the fan turns.
Where the process warrants it, sampling to confirm the control is keeping the substance out of the breathing zone.
The point of a thorough examination and test is to prove the extraction still controls the exposure - so we measure it, we do not eyeball it. Condition, capture and face velocities, transport velocity and static pressure are checked against the design intent under HSG258, and the result is written up and labelled on the plant.
We test to the HSE's guidance, HSG258, and the job ends in a report and a label on the plant: what was measured, what passed, what needs putting right, and the date the next test falls due.
We inspect the system's condition - hoods, ducting, filter and fan - and identify how it is meant to control each process.
We take the readings: capture and face velocities, duct transport velocity and static pressure at the key points.
We assess the readings against the benchmark and set out clearly whether the system is controlling the exposure.
The system is labelled with the test result and next-due date, and you get the report for your COSHH file.
A thorough examination and test is required at least every 14 months for most systems, and more often for higher-risk processes. We set your interval to the process and label the next-due date on the plant.
Condition of hoods, ducting, filters and fan; measured capture and face velocities at the working points; transport velocity and static pressure through the system; and the readings assessed against how the LEV should perform to control the exposure - not just whether the fan turns.
We set out exactly what failed and why - often a single reading such as capture velocity or static pressure - so it can be put right, and we re-test to confirm the control before certifying.
Yes - the Jewellery Quarter, Tyseley, Washwood Heath and the bodyshops and units across Birmingham, and the wider the West Midlands.
No - any LEV: welding fume arms, wood and grain dust systems, spray booths, mist extraction, polishing and plating extraction, fume cupboards, and dental and salon extraction all fall under the same duty and the same clock.
The Jewellery Quarter is still a working manufacturing district, hundreds of small firms polishing, casting and plating within a few streets of St Paul's - and every one of those processes raises a fume or a dust that its LEV has to capture at source. We test to HSG258 so the workshops that keep the Quarter making can prove their extraction controls what their people breathe.
We have carried out LEV thorough examination and testing to HSG258 since 2001, across West Midlands and the UK. From a machine shop to a joinery, a spray booth or a lab fume cupboard, the job ends the same way: measured readings, a clear verdict, and a label whose next-due date you can rely on.
Tell us what you run and we will examine, measure, report and label it to HSG258 - across West Midlands.
