LEV Testing · Chester
Around Chester the trade estates at Sealand Road and Chester Gates weld, machine, spray and joinery-work, raising fume, mist and dust the law says must be controlled. We examine and test local exhaust ventilation to HSG258 and certify it.
Chester is known for its history and its hospitality, but the trade estates around the city - Sealand Road, Chester Gates and the Boughton units - weld, machine, spray and work wood, and wherever a process raises fume, mist or dust the law requires local exhaust ventilation that actually controls it. The engineering units, the bodyshop spray booths and the joineries 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 Chester - 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.
At a bodyshop on the Sealand Road estate, the spray booth and prep-bay extraction that clears paint mist and solvent vapour needed its thorough examination. We measured the booth airflow and capture, checked the filters and set out what to put right, and re-tested to confirm the control before certifying.
At an engineering unit off Chester Gates, the weld-fume extraction arms needed testing. We measured capture at each arm 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.
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 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 booth airflow - so it can be put right, and we re-test to confirm the control before certifying.
Yes - the Sealand Road and Chester Gates units and the workshops around Chester, and the wider Cheshire.
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.
The Sealand Road corridor to the north-west of the centre is Chester's working trade belt, unit after unit of engineering, bodyshops and joinery within a few streets - and every one of those processes raises a fume, mist or dust its LEV has to capture at source. We test to HSG258 so the workshops around the city can prove their extraction controls what their people breathe.
We have carried out LEV thorough examination and testing to HSG258 since 2001, across Cheshire 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 Cheshire.
