LEV Testing · Thornton Cleveleys
From the chemical works to the engineering and finishing units, Thornton Cleveleys workplaces raise fume, mist and dust that the law says must be controlled - and the control proven by a thorough examination and test.
Thornton Cleveleys has run a chemical industry at Hillhouse since the war, and a chemical works among the estate reacts and blends its products, dries the powder and packs the drums. Where a works reacts in solvent and dries and packs powder the vapour and dust are real - the reaction and solvent handling give off a vapour, the drier and the packing a product dust, and a leak of process gas is a hazard in its own right - and the estate's engineering and finishing units add weld fume, oil mist and grinding dust, all things a worker should not breathe.
Local exhaust ventilation and the gas detection are what protect the operators, and the law does not take the control on trust. Under COSHH the solvent-vapour extraction, the product-dust 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 chemical works on the Hillhouse estate near Thornton Cleveleys, reacting in solvent and drying and packing powder, the extraction over the reactor, the drier and the packing station had lost capture and solvent vapour and product dust were carrying across the floor. We measured capture at the reactor, the drier and the packing station, checked the ducting and the scrubber, and found a fan below duty dragging the run. We set out the remedial action, and re-tested to confirm the control before certifying.
At an engineering unit on the Hillhouse estate near Thornton Cleveleys, 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.
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 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.
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 Hillhouse and Thornton industrial estates and the town's units, and across Thornton Cleveleys and the wider Lancashire.
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.
Thornton Cleveleys runs a chemical works at Hillhouse beside its engineering units, reacting in solvent, drying and packing powder, welding and machining - raising solvent vapour, product 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 Lancashire 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 Lancashire.
