Local Emissions Ventilation (LEV) Testing

Effective Maintenance of your LEV system is Essential for Your Employees' Health. Tecforce has the Solution!

Local Emissions Ventilation (LEV) systems use extract ventilation to reduce or prevent people in the workplace breathing airborne hazardous substances.

WHY TEST LEV SYSTEMS?

The aim of LEV system testing is to ensure that the system to controls emissions that are hazardous to health is operating as intended. LEV systems should be able to capture released hazardous airborne substances and remove them form the workplace by disposing of them safely.

Regulation 9 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (CoSHH) Regulations require all LEV systems to be:

• Maintained in efficient state, efficient working order and in good repair.
• Thoroughly examined and tested at least once in every period of 14 months.

WHAT SHOULD BE TESTED?

Regulation 9 is unclear concerning what is a requirement and what is not.
Here are some examples of which systems will require statutory examination and test:

• Does it control, capture or contain airborne emissions at (or close to) the point of emission by means of ventilation?
  Does it carry the pollutant to a point where it can be released safely?
  If YES, then this is required.
• Parts of machines (for example guards on abrasive wheels) should be treated as LEV if one of their main functions is to control emissions.
• Vacuum cleaners when attached to exhaust hoods on portable tools etc.
• Flues, where the flue creates a draught to control hazardous emissions from a process.

If you are still unsure if your system requires statutory examination and test, please call our Environmental Testing Team on 01332 268000 today and we will answer your questions.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE IN THE TEST?

LEV Examination & Test Reports must contain the following information:

• The name and address of the company responsible for the plant.
• Identification & location of the LEV plant, process and hazardous substance concerned.
• The date of the previous test and examination.
• Details of the conditions at the time of the test (was it operating as per normal production or were the conditions unusual?)
• The desired operating performance of the LEV plant - does it still achieve the same performance? If it does not, then it must state the repairs necessary to achieve that performance.
• The date of the examination and test.
• The name, job title and employer of the person carrying out the examination and test.
• Full details of any repairs carried out.

For the LEV plant main components the following data must be available:

Hoods and Enclosures

• Maximum number being used at any one time
• Location
• Static pressure behind each hood
• Face velocity

Ducting

• Dimensions
• Volume flow
• Transport velocity

Filter/collector

• Specification
• Static pressure at inlet, outlet and across filter
• Volume flow

Fan

• Specification
• Static pressure at inlet
• Volume flow
• Direction of rotation

WHO CAN CARRY OUT THESE TESTS?

COSHH Regulation 9 states that all examinations and tests must be carried out by a competent person. At Tecforce we have fully qualified test engineers who are able to fully examine and test your LEV systems.

We will provide a fully comprehensive report, including any recommendations for maintenance or modification., and will recommend the replacement of filters if required.