LEV Testing · Crediton
From the engineering units to the joinery and vehicle shops, Crediton workplaces raise fume, mist and dust that the law says must be controlled - and the control proven by a thorough examination and test.
In and around Crediton the engineering and fabrication units weld and machine, the joinery and timber shops cut and sand, and the vehicle and refinishing shops grind and spray. Welding and grinding throw off weld fume and metal dust; the joinery and refinishing work adds wood dust, oil mist and paint mist - none of it fit for a worker to 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 an engineering unit on the Lords Meadow Industrial Estate in Crediton, welding, grinding and fabricating, the draw at the arms had dropped and the air was thick 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 reported what needed putting right and re-tested to confirm it held spec, certifying to HSG258.
At a joinery workshop on the Fordton estate near Crediton, running the saws, planers and sander, capture had slipped below what the process needed and wood dust was carrying across the floor. We measured at each hood and along the duct, and found clogged filters and a slipping fan belt cutting the draw. We set out what to put right, re-tested after the work, and certified the system 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 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.
No more than every 14 months under COSHH Regulation 9, and sooner for certain higher-risk work. We judge the right interval for your process and put the next-due date on both the plant 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 Crediton workshops and units, and across Crediton and the wider Devon.
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.
Around Crediton the metal, timber and vehicle work raises weld fume, metal and wood dust, oil mist and paint mist. Every workshop that produces it carries the same duty: capture it at source, and prove with a measured test that the capture works.
We have carried out LEV thorough examination and testing to HSG258 since 2001, across Devon 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 Devon.
