LEV Testing · Plymouth
From the marine and woodworking works about the dockyard to the engineering, joinery and bodyshop units across the city, Plymouth workplaces raise fume, mist and dust that the law says must be controlled - and the control proven by a thorough examination and test.
Plymouth has built and repaired ships at Devonport for three centuries, and it still makes things across the city. Its industry gathers about the dockyard and the trade estates around Plymouth, where woodworking, marine and engineering units sit alongside the bodyshops and finishing trades that serve the South West. Every one of them raises something a worker should not breathe - wood dust, weld fume, oil mist, solvent or paint spray.
Local exhaust ventilation is what captures it at source, and the law does not take the control on trust. Under COSHH the extraction has to be thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months, measured against how it is 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 long-standing woodworking production facility in Plymouth, the dust extraction over the saws, the sanders and the moulder had lost draw, fine wood dust settling where it should have been captured. We measured capture at each machine, checked the ducting and the filter, and found the fan below duty and a choked take-off - a real fire and health risk with fine wood dust. We set out the remedial action, and re-tested to confirm the control before certifying.
At an engineering unit in Plymouth, the mist extraction over the CNC line had dropped off and the bench capture felt weak. We measured capture and face velocities at each point, checked the ducting and discharge, and reported exactly which point fell short and why - so it could be put right and re-tested before certifying.
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 dockyard and city trade estates and the city's units, and across Plymouth 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.
Devonport is still the largest naval base in Western Europe, refitting the fleet as it has since the 1690s - three centuries of exact, measured marine engineering. That instinct fills the city's woodworking, engineering and finishing shops today, and every one carries a duty to control the dust, fume and mist 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 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.
