LEV FAQs

An LEV test involves a complete inspection and examination of your extraction equipment, including the ducts, hoods and filters. It will also involve a measurement of the technical performance and an assessment of the working condition of the LEV system. All examinations will be carried to HSE regulations, and Impact Technical Services will advise you of the recommendations to be made should your LEV system not meet the standards required.

LEV testing a wood dust extraction system

The government body that is responsible for the enforcement of the regulations for related risks in the work place is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). One of the key aspects of COSHH 2002 (Control of Substances Hazard to Health) regulations is dust and fume exposure. COSHH regulation 9 (see below) states that all companies must take steps to prevent, control, maintain and monitor for dust and fume exposure within the working environment.

• Every employer who provides any LEV to meet regulation 7 shall ensure that it is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order, in good repair and in a clean condition. – COSHH Regulation 9.1.

When engineered controls have been used the employer must also make sure that the controls are thoroughly inspected and tested with a record that is kept for a minimum of 5 years. The Regulation also states:

• Any LEV system must be thoroughly appraised and tested at least once every 14 months. This is reduced to 6 months in certain circumstances. – COSHH Regulation 9.2.

Contact us for more details.

While it is not a legal requirement to have airflow indicators fitted, by law as an employer you must make sure your LEV system is working at an appropriate standard. One of the reasons an LEV system may not work at the appropriate standard could be due to the airflow level drop (due to damage to the ducting, a build of material, etc), which then deems it inadequate and effective control is lost.

An effective way to check for this is through the use of airflow indicators which provide you with an instant visual indication as to whether the flow rate of air is controlled and maintained and gives you the employer reassurance that all of your employees are being protected appropriately. An airflow indicator is recommended by HSE’s LEV guidance HSG258 as it is the only method that will show immediately if there is a problem with the airflow of your system.

Yes our examiners will label your LEV system after every test.

Although there is no specific legal requirement for this to be done, COSHH regulations do state that you as an employer must maintain the performance of your LEV system and are required to have a thorough examination at least once every 14 months.

The employer needs to know whether an examination has been completed or when one is due, as do the supervisors and operators. Also they need to know when an LEV system has failed and so attaching a label is the most effective way of providing this information.

HSE guidance has recommended that a red “failed” label needs to be put on extraction hoods that have failed the LEV test. This is done to directly inform supervisors and operators of the failed outcome of the test.  This can either be done by one of our examiners with agreement from the employer or the label could be issued to the employer’s responsible person.

The label will come with a short emergency written report which describes in full the details of the fault along with a list of actions that can remedy it.

Once we have repaired an LEV hood or system, one of our examiners will need to check that it is effective and can adequately control hazardous exposures. Once satisfied, the failed label can then be removed.