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LEV testing - owner's checklist
Owning the extraction that controls a hazard makes you the duty holder, whether you think of yourself that way or not. Here is the practical checklist of what COSHH actually asks of you as the LEV owner.
The short answer
If you own and operate the LEV that controls a hazardous substance, COSHH makes the duties yours as the employer. In practical terms that means knowing what systems you have, having them thoroughly examined and tested on the cycle, acting on the reports, keeping the records, maintaining the systems between tests, and training the people who use them. You can outsource the work, but not the responsibility.
Duty one
The first practical duty is knowing your own systems. You cannot manage what you have not identified, and it is surprisingly common for a business to be unsure exactly how many capture points it operates, what each controls, or where the ductwork runs. A duty holder needs a clear picture: what LEV serves which process, controlling which substance.
This matters because everything else depends on it. The testing schedule, the maintenance regime, the records and the training all have to cover the whole system, and a capture point nobody remembered is a capture point going untested and unmaintained - a gap in the very control the duty is about. Knowing your systems is where owning the duty begins.
Duty two
As owner you must have the LEV thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months, sooner where risk or wear demands it - and, crucially, act on what the report says. A test that finds remedial actions is not the end of the job; closing those actions is. Owning the duty means booking the test and then following through on its findings, not filing a report with unaddressed defects.
This is where owners most often fall short, treating the test as the whole obligation. But a report listing an under-performing hood that you did nothing about leaves you worse off than before, because you now hold evidence you knew. The owner's duty is the full loop: test, act, and confirm the fix with a re-test where needed.
Duty three
COSHH requires the owner to keep the records - the report of each thorough examination and test, and details of any repairs - for at least five years. As the duty holder you are responsible for holding that history, not the contractor who carried out the work. If an inspector asks, it is your records they want to see, and a missing history is your gap to explain.
In practice this means gathering the records into one place, tied to each system, and keeping them current. The test reports, the maintenance log, the repair details and the training records together tell the story that the control is being managed over time - which is exactly what owning the duty is meant to produce.
Duty four
Owning the LEV means keeping it in efficient working order between the statutory tests, not just examining it every 14 months. That means a maintenance regime - checking airflow indicators, changing filters, watching for problems - so the system does not drift into a fail unnoticed. Maintenance is a continuing duty, not an annual event.
It also means the people using the LEV know how. As owner you must provide information, instruction and training so operators understand how the system should work, how to use it correctly, and what to do if it is not performing. A well-maintained system used with the hood in the wrong place protects no one, so training closes the gap between good equipment and actual protection.
The point about ownership
The theme running through all of this is that ownership carries the duty. You can, and usually should, outsource the actual work - a competent company to test, a contractor to maintain - but the legal responsibility for making sure it all happens stays with you as the owner and employer. Hiring good people meets the practical need; it does not transfer the obligation.
So the useful way to hold this is as an owner's checklist: know your systems, test them on the cycle, act on the reports, keep the records, maintain between tests, and train your people. Run that loop and you are meeting the duty COSHH places on you. Assume a contractor is carrying it for you, and you may find, when it is tested, that the responsibility was yours all along.
Questions
Yours. As the employer who owns and operates the LEV controlling a hazardous substance, COSHH makes the duties yours. You can outsource the work but not the responsibility for making sure it happens.
Knowing what systems you have, testing them at least every 14 months, acting on the reports, keeping the records for at least five years, maintaining the systems between tests, and training the people who use them.
Because you cannot manage what you have not identified. A capture point nobody remembered goes untested and unmaintained - a gap in the control. The whole duty depends on a clear picture of what LEV you own.
No. You must also act on the report and close out any remedial actions. A report listing an unaddressed defect leaves you worse off, because you now hold evidence you knew about it.
You, as the owner and duty holder - the reports and repair details, for at least five years. If an inspector asks, it is your records they want, not the contractor's.
No. You can outsource the testing and maintenance work, but the legal responsibility for making sure it all happens stays with you as the LEV owner and employer.
We test to HSG258 and help you build the records and cycle that show your LEV duty is being met.
