LEV Testing · Hoddesdon
From the glasshouse nursery to the engineering and finishing units, Hoddesdon workplaces raise fume, mist and dust that the law says must be controlled - and the control proven by a thorough examination and test.
Hoddesdon keeps the glasshouse tradition of the Lea Valley, and a commercial nursery among the units grows under glass, applies pesticide and fungicide by sprayer and handles the compost and growing media at volume. Where a nursery sprays pesticide and handles compost the vapour and dust are real - the spraying throws off a pesticide mist that must not be breathed, the compost and media handling a dust that carries moulds and the heating plant a flue gas - and the units' engineering and finishing shops add weld fume, oil mist and grinding dust, all things a worker should not breathe.
Local exhaust ventilation and the sprayer controls are what protect the growers, and the law does not take the control on trust. Under COSHH the compost-dust extraction, the spray-store and mixing capture and the engineering 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.
Real jobs, described by sector and area - never by a client's name.
At a commercial glasshouse nursery on the Lea Valley units near Hoddesdon, mixing pesticide and handling compost, the extraction over the chemical-mixing store and the compost-handling line had lost capture and pesticide vapour and compost dust were building around the workers. We measured capture at the mixing store and the compost line, checked the ducting and the filters, and found a fan below duty and a poor store extract. We set out the remedial action, and re-tested to confirm the control before certifying.
At an engineering unit on the Lea Valley units near Hoddesdon, the weld-fume arms and mist extraction over the machining had lost capture and the shop was hazing by mid-shift. We measured capture and face velocities at each point, checked the ducting and the filters, and reported what needed putting right so it 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 condition of the hoods, ducting, filter and fan and how each is meant to control its process.
We measure capture and face velocities, transport velocity and static pressure at every key point.
The readings are judged against the design benchmark under HSG258, with a clear pass or fail on control.
The plant is labelled and you get the report and next-due date for your COSHH records.
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 the Lea Valley and Rye House units and the town's units, and across Hoddesdon and the wider Hertfordshire.
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.
Hoddesdon grows under glass in the Lea Valley tradition beside its engineering units, spraying pesticide and fungicide, handling compost and media, welding and machining - raising pesticide vapour, compost and mould dust, weld fume and oil 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 Hertfordshire 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 Hertfordshire.
