LEV Testing · Bournemouth
From the aviation and engineering shops at Hurn to the joineries and bodyshops of the town, Bournemouth workplaces raise fume, mist and dust that the law says must be controlled - and the control proven by a thorough examination and test.
Bournemouth is not all seafront - the airport at Hurn has been an aviation and engineering hub since the war, and precise trades work across the town. Its industry gathers on the Hurn and airport estates and the trade parks about the town, where aviation, engineering and finishing units sit alongside the joineries and bodyshops that serve the coast. Every one of them raises something a worker should not breathe - weld fume, oil mist, solvent, paint spray or wood dust.
Local exhaust ventilation is what captures it at source, and the law does not take the control on trust. Under COSHH the extraction has to be thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months, measured against how it is used - not just switched on and assumed to work.
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.
At an aviation engineering unit near Bournemouth Airport, the weld-fume arms and mist extraction over the machining had lost capture and fume was reaching the benches. We measured capture at each point, checked the ducting and the filter, and found a fan below duty and a loaded filter dragging the run. We set out the remedial action, and re-tested to confirm the control before certifying.
At a vehicle bodyshop near Bournemouth, the spray booth had lost downdraught and solvent vapour was hanging after each coat. We measured the booth's air velocity and checked the extract and make-up air, and reported what needed putting right so the booth held its spec on a re-test.
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.
A thorough examination and test under COSHH is a real assessment, not a rubber stamp. It is a structured examination of the system's condition, measurement of its actual performance, and an assessment of those readings against how the system should perform to control the exposure. It follows the HSE's guidance, HSG258, and ends in a report and a label.
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 examine the hoods, ducting, filter and fan and identify how each is meant to control its process.
We record capture and face velocities, transport velocity and static pressure at every key point.
The readings are assessed against the design intent under HSG258, with a clear verdict on control.
The plant is labelled with the result and next-due date, and you get the report for the COSHH file.
At least every 14 months under COSHH Regulation 9 - and sooner for certain higher-risk processes. We set the right interval for what you run and put the next-due date on the label and the report.
A thorough-examination-and-test report against HSG258, a pass/fail on each point with any remedials listed, and a dated label on the plant showing when the next test falls due.
We set out exactly what failed and why - often a single reading such as static pressure or capture velocity - so it can be put right, and we re-test to confirm the control before certifying.
Yes - the Hurn and airport estates and the town's units, and across Bournemouth and the wider Dorset.
No - any LEV: welding fume arms, wood and grain dust systems, spray booths, mist extraction, fume cupboards, and dental and salon extraction all fall under the same duty and the same clock.
Hurn has flown and fixed aircraft on the edge of Bournemouth since the 1940s, and the engineering and finishing shops around the airport still work to fine tolerances. That precise-making instinct fills the Hurn estates and the town's trade parks, and every one carries a duty to control the fume, mist and dust its work throws off - and to prove it with a measured test.
We have carried out LEV thorough examination and testing to HSG258 since 2001, across Dorset 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 Dorset.
