LEV Testing · Cardigan
Across Cardigan, the engineering, joinery and vehicle workshops throw off fume, mist and dust the law requires to be controlled - and the control proven by a thorough examination and test.
Around Cardigan the marine and general-engineering units weld and fabricate, the boatyards and joinery shops cut and sand, and the vehicle shops grind and refinish. Where a workshop welds and grinds the fume and dust are real - the arc and the grinder throw off weld fume and metal dust - and the joinery and refinishing units add wood dust, oil mist and paint mist, all things a worker should not breathe.
Local exhaust ventilation is what captures it at source, and the law does not take the control on trust. Under COSHH the weld-fume arms, the wood-dust extraction and the spray and mist extraction have to be thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months, measured against how they are 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.
Typical jobs we handle, by sector and area - representative of the work we do, not named clients.
At a marine-engineering unit near Cardigan, welding, grinding and fabricating, the extraction had lost capture and the shop was hazing by mid-shift. We measured capture and face velocities at each point, checked the ducting and filters, and traced it to a fan running below duty. We set out what to put right, re-tested after the work, and certified the system to HSG258.
At a joinery unit near Cardigan, running the saws, planers and sander, the arms and hoods were barely pulling and wood dust drifted into the workspace. We checked capture at the hoods, the ducting and the filters, and found the fan and filters below the duty the process needed. We specified the remedial action and, once done, re-tested and certified the control to HSG258.
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.
COSHH Regulation 9 sets a maximum of 14 months between tests, and some higher-risk processes need it sooner. We set the interval to match what you run and record the next-due date on the label and the report.
A report of the thorough examination and test to HSG258, each point marked pass or fail with any remedial work set out, and a dated label on the plant with the next-due date.
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 Cardigan workshops and units, and across Cardigan and the wider Mid Wales.
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.
Cardigan works its metal, timber and vehicles, welding and grinding, sawing and sanding, and refinishing - raising weld fume, metal and wood dust, oil mist and paint mist. Every one carries a duty to control what 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 Mid Wales 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 Mid Wales.
