LEV Testing · Wolverhampton
From the university research labs to the metalworking, engineering and aerospace units about i54, Wolverhampton workplaces raise fume, mist and dust that the law says must be controlled - and the control proven by a thorough examination and test.
Wolverhampton has metal in its blood, and it still makes and researches things across the city. Its labs and industry run from the university research buildings to the metalworking, engineering and aerospace units of Bilston and the i54 park. Every one of them raises something a worker should not breathe - laboratory fume and solvent, weld fume, metalworking mist, wood dust 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 well-regarded university research laboratory in Wolverhampton, the control at the fume cupboards over the bench chemistry had dropped off at two points. We ran face-velocity and containment tests across the cupboards, checked the ducting and discharge, and set out exactly which point fell short and why, re-testing to confirm the control before certifying.
At an engineering unit about the i54 park, the mist extraction over the CNC line and the weld-fume arms 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 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 i54 and Bilston units and the city's units, and across Wolverhampton and the wider the West Midlands.
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.
i54, on the M54 north of the city, is the biggest industrial development the Black Country has seen - Jaguar Land Rover's engine plant among a park of advanced-manufacturing, aerospace and scientific-testing firms. That making instinct, old and new, fills the city's labs, metalworking and engineering shops, and every one carries a duty to control the fume, mist and dust 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 West Midlands 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 West Midlands.
