Recommended frequencies for LEV testing

Under HSE’s Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations, Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) testing is a legal requirement in the UK. Your equipment must be thoroughly examined and tested by a competent person at least every 14 months to ensure your employees are safe. If it’s been over a year since your last LEV test, we strongly suggest you book us in to test and assess your LEV systems.

Why is LEV testing important?

According to HSE’s Occupational Lung Disease in Great Britain (2018), 12,000 workers in the UK die each year from past exposure to airborne contaminants at work. LEV systems are designed to prevent the inhalation of these harmful substances, reducing risks in the workplace.

What’s included in a LEV test?

All our work adheres to the HSE guidance that governs LEV testing and includes:

  • A thorough visual and structural examination of the extraction system to ensure that it is in efficient working order, in good repair and clean condition. This includes inspection of key components including internal ducts, filter cleaning devices, fan belts and alarms.
  • A review of the LEV’s technical performance to check conformity with its commission report, this will include careful observation as well as performance checks and tests.
  • Finally, an overall assessment of the LEV’s control effectiveness will be carried out to ensure the LEV continues to provide adequate control of exposure to airborne contaminants.

Following inspection, the LEV system will be marked as a pass or fail. At Vent Tech, our LEV commissioning engineers hold P604 qualification, an advanced proficiency module on the performance and management of LEV systems.

This means that we don’t just pass or fail your system – we take it one step further. In the event of failing a LEV COSHH Test, we will provide you with the reasons for the failure and the actions required to fix it.

The benefits of using Vent-Tech for your LEV thorough examination and test service (TExT)

The benefits of using our fully qualified Vent-Tech LEV engineers include:

  • We will run the test in full accordance with HSE guidelines using the appropriate LEV testing equipment.
  • You’ll have our vast experience at your disposal as we have been testing LEV systems for more than fifteen years.
  • You can rest assured that we are trusted by national organisations such as The Royal Mint and Cranfield University.
  • We are active members of ILEVE who seek to drive up standards within the LEV industry.

If equipment failings are uncovered, our P601, P602 and P604 qualified LEV engineers can provide pragmatic, cost-effective advice for remedial work to ensure HSE compliance. We can also carry out the work for you.

If we carry out the work for you, you can be sure that your equipment will perform to the correct standard, and we will issue you with an LEV report showing your compliance. Therefore, you will fulfil your obligation to ensure your equipment is properly maintained, keeping your staff safe and not risk incurring HSE fines, or worse, a jail term.  We recommend regular LEV servicing to help ensure your system is consistently working to its maximum efficiency throughout the year, and helps prevent any unwanted surprises at test time

Legal requirement for LEV testing

It’s mandatory that employers assess the level of exposure and the risks to their employees. They must put sufficient control measures in place, monitor and maintain them. These control measures must be followed properly by employees and in accordance with instructions given to them. As Regulation 9 of the COSHH Regulations states:

Every employer who provides any LEV to meet the regulations shall ensure:

“… it is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order, in good repair and in a clean condition.” – Regulation 9 -1 COSHH.

UK regulations are also clear that employers must ensure that thorough examination and testing of their ‘protective’ LEV is carried out at least every 14 months (unless otherwise stipulated).

LEV Testing – Why BOHS qualifications matter

LEV systems are designed to protect workers from hazardous dust and fumes. They need regular testing by a qualified person to ensure that the systems are functioning correctly.

The qualification needed to test LEV systems is the P601 – Thorough Examination & Testing of Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) Systems.

However, this qualification does not cover the detail of the design of LEV systems. Therefore, Vent-Tech engineers are P601 and P602 qualified as well as being members of ILEVE. Our LEV commissioning engineers also hold the advanced P604 qualification (Performance Evaluation and Management of Local Exhaust Ventilation Systems).

With loyal customers including MB Aerospace and Exxon Mobil, we are recognised for our expertise and reliability.

Easy access to all your LEV documents

It is also a legal requirement for a record of the examination and test to be kept for at least five years. Many of our customers have several LEV systems which require testing, resulting in a lot of paperwork.

We store all your LEV documents in our password-protected LEV Vault so you have instant access to all your documents and the peace of mind of knowing that everything is in one secure place and easily accessible 24/7.

Arrange an LEV Test today

For more information on our service, or to arrange LEV testing for your site, please call the team on 0117 964 7945 or fill out our contact form below and we will get back to you shortly.

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