LEV Testing · Hednesford
Across Hednesford, 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.
In and around Hednesford 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.
It is local exhaust ventilation that captures the fume and dust at source - and the control has to be proven, not assumed. Under COSHH the weld-fume arms, wood-dust extraction and spray and mist extraction must be thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months, measured against how they are actually run.
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 fabrication unit on the Lower Road estate in Hednesford, welding, grinding and fabricating, the hoods were no longer holding the weld fume and metal dust and the shop had gone hazy. We gauged capture and transport velocities, examined the ducting, and found a collapsed flexible choking the run. We listed the remedials, and re-tested to prove the control once put right, then certified to HSG258.
At a vehicle bodyshop in Hednesford, spraying and finishing, the capture at the hoods had fallen off and a haze hung over the benches. We measured face velocities and static pressure, checked the run, and found undersized ducting and a worn fan. We reported the remedial actions and, on re-test, certified the control to HSG258 with the next-due date.
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.
An HSG258 thorough-examination-and-test report, a clear pass or fail at every point with remedials listed, and a dated plant label carrying the next test 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 Hednesford workshops and units, and across Hednesford and the wider Staffordshire.
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 Hednesford 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 Staffordshire 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 Staffordshire.
