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LEV testing - the report
An LEV report is not a simple tick or cross. It is a set of judgements about whether each part of your system is controlling exposure - and the useful information is often in the amber, not the headline.
The short answer
An LEV report does more than declare an overall pass or fail. It assesses each part of the system against whether it is adequately controlling exposure, typically using a green, amber and red scheme, and lists remedial actions. The value is in reading those judgements and actions - a system can be broadly satisfactory yet carry amber items that need attention, and a fail tells you exactly what to fix.
What the report is judging
The fundamental question an LEV report answers is whether each part of the system is adequately controlling exposure - not simply whether air is moving. That is why a proper report carries measured figures, such as face velocity and capture at each point, set against what the system should achieve, plus the examiner's judgement on whether that amounts to adequate control.
Understanding that framing is the key to reading the report. It is not grading tidiness or effort; it is grading protection. Every colour, figure and comment is really answering one thing: is this hood, this point, this system, keeping the people using it safe. Read with that question in mind, the report becomes far more useful than a headline verdict.
Green, amber, red
Most reports use a traffic-light approach. Green means the point is providing adequate control - working as it should. Red means it is not controlling exposure adequately and needs action before it can be relied on. Amber sits between: the point is broadly working but there is something that needs attention, a sign of drift, or a condition attached to the pass.
Crucially, these are usually applied point by point, not just to the whole system. So a report can show an overall satisfactory position while flagging individual amber or even red points that need addressing. Reading only the summary and missing the point-level judgements is how genuine problems get filed as passes.
The grey areas
The word that causes most confusion is satisfactory. A report can describe a system as satisfactory while still listing actions - because satisfactory can mean adequate now, provided the noted issues are addressed and the system is used correctly. It is a conditional pass, not a clean bill of health, and the conditions are in the amber items and the recommendations.
This is the grey area to read carefully. An amber point might mean a filter approaching the end of its life, a reading near the limit, or reliance on the operator working in a particular way. Ignore it because the headline said satisfactory, and the amber quietly becomes a red at the next test - or an exposure in the meantime. The conditions attached to a pass are part of the result, not footnotes.
The part that matters most
For a duty holder, the most important section of any LEV report is the remedial actions - the list of what needs doing and by when. This is where the report turns from an assessment into a task list, and where your COSHH duty to act on the findings bites. A report with actions you have not addressed is a report working against you.
Read the actions first, in truth. They tell you what the examiner actually found needs fixing, cut through the colours and figures, and define what you have to do to keep the system controlling exposure. A green report with no actions needs filing; any other report needs acting on - and the actions are how you know what acting means.
Using the report well
Reading an LEV report well comes down to three habits. Look past the headline to the point-by-point judgements, so amber and red items are not hidden by an overall satisfactory. Treat satisfactory as conditional and check what the conditions are. And go straight to the remedial actions, because that is what your duty requires you to act on and what keeps the system safe.
Then keep the report, with a record of the actions you took, as part of the five-year history COSHH expects. Read that way, an LEV report stops being a certificate to file and becomes what it is meant to be: a clear account of whether your extraction is protecting people, and exactly what to do where it is not.
Questions
Whether each part of your system is adequately controlling exposure - not just whether air is moving. It uses measured figures and usually a green, amber and red scheme, point by point, plus a list of remedial actions.
Green means the point is providing adequate control; red means it is not and needs action; amber means it is broadly working but needs attention or carries a condition. They are usually applied point by point, not just overall.
Because satisfactory can be conditional - adequate now, provided the noted issues are addressed and the system is used correctly. The conditions are in the amber items and recommendations, not footnotes.
The remedial actions - what needs doing and by when. That is where your COSHH duty to act on the findings bites, and a report with unaddressed actions works against you.
The point-by-point judgements can show individual amber or red points even where the overall position looks satisfactory. Reading only the summary is how real problems get filed as passes.
Read past the headline to the point-level judgements, check any conditions on a satisfactory result, act on the remedial actions, and keep the report and a record of what you did for at least five years.
We produce clear, point-by-point LEV reports with plain remedial actions, so you know what to act on.
