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LEV testing - the wider law
Your extraction is not only a health control under COSHH - it is also work equipment under PUWER. That means a second set of duties applies to the same fans, ducts and hoods, and knowing both is how you cover the whole obligation.
The short answer
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) apply to equipment used at work - and your LEV, with its fans, motors, ductwork and hoods, is work equipment. So alongside the COSHH duty to control exposure and test the LEV, PUWER requires the equipment to be suitable for its purpose, maintained in efficient working order, and where appropriate inspected to keep it safe. The two regimes overlap on the same kit.
Two regimes, one system
Most people think of LEV purely through COSHH, because COSHH is where the duty to control hazardous substances lives. But the extraction is also physical work equipment - fans, motors, ducting, filters, hoods - and that brings it within PUWER, the regulations governing equipment used at work. The same system is subject to both regimes at once.
The two are complementary. COSHH is concerned with the equipment as a control - is it keeping exposure down. PUWER is concerned with the equipment as equipment - is it suitable, safe and maintained. A system can satisfy one lens and not the other, which is why it helps to see both.
What PUWER requires
PUWER's core requirements map neatly onto extraction. Work equipment must be suitable for the purpose it is used for - the right system for the process and the substance. It must be maintained in efficient working order and good repair, which for LEV means an upkeep regime keeping the fans, filters and ductwork performing. And where the safety of equipment depends on the installation conditions or it is exposed to deteriorating conditions, it must be inspected at suitable intervals to make sure it remains safe.
There is a people element too. PUWER requires that those using work equipment have adequate information, instruction and training - which for extraction means the operators know how the system should work and how to use it correctly, echoing the same duty under COSHH.
Where they overlap
The clearest overlap is maintenance. COSHH Regulation 9 requires LEV to be maintained in efficient working order and thoroughly examined and tested; PUWER requires work equipment to be maintained in efficient working order and good repair. The same maintenance regime serves both duties, which is why a well-kept extraction system tends to satisfy both without extra effort.
The value of seeing both is that it removes any sense that maintenance is optional between statutory tests. Even setting COSHH aside, PUWER independently requires the equipment to be kept in good working order - so a neglected fan or a leaking duct is a breach on two counts, not one.
The mechanical side
PUWER also brings into focus the parts of an extraction system that are easy to overlook as pure machinery. The fan and its motor are work equipment - they rotate, they can fail, they need to be safe to operate and maintain. Guarding, safe access for maintenance, isolation for work on the system, and the condition of moving parts are PUWER concerns as much as airflow is a COSHH one.
This matters because a grease-laden or worn fan is both a control problem and an equipment problem - it under-performs on capture and it is a mechanical failure and, at the extreme, a fire risk waiting to happen. Keeping it maintained addresses the COSHH control duty and the PUWER equipment duty together.
The takeaway
For a duty holder, the practical message is simple: a proper maintenance and testing regime for your extraction satisfies both COSHH and PUWER, because both want the same thing - equipment that is suitable, kept in efficient working order, and safe to use. You do not run two separate programmes; you run one that meets both.
Seeing PUWER alongside COSHH just closes the loop. It confirms that keeping your extraction maintained is not a nice-to-have between the statutory LEV tests but a legal requirement in its own right - and that a neglected system falls short of more than one set of rules at once.
Questions
Yes. Your LEV - fans, motors, ductwork, hoods - is work equipment, so PUWER applies alongside COSHH. PUWER requires it to be suitable, maintained in efficient working order, and inspected where safety depends on it.
COSHH treats the LEV as a control for hazardous substances; PUWER treats it as work equipment that must be suitable, safe and maintained. The two regimes apply to the same system from different angles.
That the equipment is suitable for its purpose, maintained in efficient working order and good repair, inspected at suitable intervals where its safety depends on conditions, and used by people with adequate information and training.
On maintenance. COSHH requires LEV kept in efficient working order and tested; PUWER requires work equipment kept in efficient working order and good repair. One maintenance regime serves both.
Yes. The fan and motor are work equipment in their own right - guarding, safe maintenance access, isolation and the condition of moving parts are PUWER concerns as much as airflow is a COSHH one.
That a proper maintenance and testing regime for your extraction satisfies both COSHH and PUWER at once - and that a neglected system breaches more than one set of rules.
We examine and test your extraction and check its condition as work equipment, supporting both duties in one visit.
