LEV Testing · Whitchurch
The workshops of Whitchurch - engineering, timber and vehicle alike - raise the fume, mist and dust that COSHH says must be captured and the capture proven by a thorough examination and test.
Around Whitchurch the engineering and fabrication units weld and machine, the joinery and timber shops cut and sand, and the vehicle shops grind and refinish. Where a workshop welds and grinds the fume and dust are real - the arc and the grinder throw off weld fume and metal dust - and the joinery and refinishing units add wood dust, oil mist and paint mist, all things a worker should not 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 a fabrication unit on the Waymills estate at Whitchurch, welding, grinding and fabricating, the hoods were no longer holding the weld fume and metal dust and the shop had gone hazy. We measured at each hood and along the duct, and found clogged filters and a slipping fan belt cutting the draw. We reported what needed putting right and re-tested to confirm it held spec, certifying to HSG258.
At a joinery unit near Whitchurch, running the saws, planers and sander, the LEV was no longer clearing the wood dust and a haze built up over the shift. We checked capture at the hoods, the ducting and the filters, and found the fan and filters below the duty the process needed. We detailed the remedials and re-tested to confirm the LEV met HSG258 before labelling it.
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 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.
COSHH Regulation 9 sets a maximum of 14 months between tests, and some higher-risk processes need it sooner. We set the interval to match what you run and record the next-due date on the 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 Whitchurch workshops and units, and across Whitchurch and the wider Shropshire.
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 Whitchurch 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 Shropshire 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 Shropshire.
