LEV Testing and COSHH: What UK Employers Need to Know

If you run a process that produces dust, fume, vapour, mist or gas, you almost certainly have two things in common with thousands of other UK businesses: a local exhaust ventilation (LEV) system and a COSHH obligation that sits quietly in the background until someone asks about it. LEV testing and COSHH are not two separate chores. They are the same duty seen from two angles. This article answers the questions employers ask most often, in plain English, so you know what is expected of you and what to have ready when you start comparing testing providers. You stay in control of the decision throughout - there is no technical exam to pass unless you are the person carrying out the test itself. Here are the answers, without the jargon. ## What does COSHH actually ask of you? COSHH - the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations - is the UK law that requires you to protect people from harmful substances at work. Boiled down, it asks you to do five things: - Work out which hazardous substances your processes create or use. - Assess the risk to your workers and anyone else who could be affected. - Put controls in place to prevent or reduce exposure. - Make sure those controls keep working, day after day. - Explain the risks to your people and show them how to work safely. For a great many workshops, that third step is an LEV system - extraction that captures dust or fume at the point it is created, before it reaches anyone's lungs. As soon as you rely on LEV to control exposure, the fourth and fifth steps bring testing into the picture. That is where LEV testing and COSHH meet. ## How does LEV testing fit into COSHH? Testing is not an add-on you can skip when things are busy. If LEV is one of your controls, the law treats it as equipment that has to be kept in effective working order. In practice that means a thorough examination and test at set intervals, carried out by someone competent, with the results recorded and kept. Think of it this way: the assessment tells you which controls you need, and the test is your evidence that the control you fitted is still doing its job. Without the test you have a system you believe is working, but nothing to show it. ## How often does LEV need to be tested? The commonly used rule of thumb is at least once every 14 months. That figure comes from the expectation that a thorough examination and test happens at least every 14 months, and the reason it is 14 rather than 12 is to allow for scheduling without letting the system drift past a year. That said, 14 months is a ceiling for straightforward setups, not a target for every system. If your process involves a particularly harmful substance, or the LEV is exposed to heavy wear, your assessment may call for more frequent checks. Your examiner can advise on a realistic interval for your equipment. ### What counts as a thorough examination and test? It is more than a quick glance and a listen. A proper thorough examination and test looks at the system as a whole - the capture point, the ducting, the fan, the filters and the discharge - and confirms it is still controlling exposure as intended. It includes measurements and a visual check for damage, blockage, wear or leaks, followed by a written report. ### Does every LEV system follow the same schedule? No. A single extraction arm over a small bench and a large multi-branch system serving a whole workshop do not carry the same risk or the same wear. The interval and the depth of the test should reflect your process, the substance, and how hard the system works. ## Who is allowed to carry out the examination and test? Whoever does it needs to be competent - that is, they have the training, knowledge and experience to examine and test your type of LEV and to judge whether it is performing properly. You do not need to be an expert yourself. Your job is to check that the person you appoint can demonstrate that competence, and to keep the paperwork that shows it. ### What should you receive afterward? You should receive a clear written report, not just a verbal all-clear. A useful report identifies the system, records the measurements, states whether the LEV passed or what needs attention, and sets out any remedial action and when it should be done. Keep it - it is your evidence of compliance far more than any invoice is. ## What records should you keep? Keep the reports, and keep them for at least five years. Regulators expect employers to be able to show the history of their LEV: when it was tested, what was found, and what was done about anything that failed. A simple folder - paper or digital - holding every report in date order is enough. If an inspector asks, you want to hand over a sequence, not a scramble. ## What happens if you do not test it? Nothing at all, until something goes wrong or an inspector calls. If it does, the absence of a current test is hard to explain away, because the duty is ongoing and the intervals are well known. The more common outcome is quieter and more serious: a system that looked fine on the outside drifts out of balance, exposure creeps back up, and the people working beside it pay the price long before anyone notices. ## What to have ready before you compare providers When you start looking for an independent examiner, a little preparation makes the whole process faster and lets you compare like for like. Have to hand: - A list of the LEV systems on site and roughly where each one serves. - The date and result of the last thorough examination and test, if there is one. - Any previous reports, so a new examiner can see the history. - Details of the process, so the right interval and depth can be agreed. - A note of anything you already know is not working well. That is it. With those five things ready, you can approach providers, ask sensible questions, and judge the answers. You decide who to appoint and when. The testing itself is their job; choosing well is yours. ## The short version Your COSHH duties and your LEV testing duties are not two separate jobs. One tells you what controls you need; the other proves the control is still working. Test at least every 14 months, use someone competent, keep the reports for five years, and act on anything the report flags. Keep those four things straight and you will be on solid ground - and you will be ready to compare independent LEV testing providers on your own terms.