Believe it or not, fhousands of people die in Britian every year due to airborne
contaminants inhaled at work.

If your company employs processes that produce dust, mist, fume, gas or vapour, there may be a risk to the health of your staff.  If this is the case, you will need to provide Local
Exhaust Ventilation (LEV).  This needs to be correctly specified, installed and maintained if
it is to protect your workforce.

Local Exhaust Ventilation is used in many businesses throughout the UK as an integral part
of their risk control, others view LEV as a series of pipes that move air from point A to
point B. Whatever the opinion, the HSE is aiming to improve exposure controls for all by launching their revised guidance on LEV design and testing.  Some of the statistics are
startling to say the least and certainly need to be improved by better understanding and implementing of LEV design and testing.

• 8.5% of cancer deaths in men and 1.5% in women are attributable to work
  
  
• Over 7000 deaths each year.  The amount of people killed by occupational cancer
  is 30 times more than people killed by industrial accidents
  
  
• 1500-3000 develop occupational asthma each year.
  
  
• There are 140,000 LEV systems in the UK
  
  
• Of which 40% are tested on an annual basis – 60% have no inspection
  
  
• Much less than 40% are checked effectively
  
  
• More than 500,000 people rely on LEV to protect their health

In accordance with the COSHH Regulations and HSE Guidance we perform thorough examination and testing of local exhaust ventilation systems.

We are able to tailor our service to suit your needs, whether you require a service and test
to be carried out together or independently, and can offer two levels of report on testing.

APS provide a comprehensive testing and inspection service with full recommendations in accordance with COSHH Regulation 9 (5th Edition, 2002), and HSE HSG258
(Controlling airborne contaminants at work; a guide to local exhaust ventilation) 2008.

Our Engineers are P601 trained—a British Occupational Hygiene Society standard.

Employers Responsibilities

All employers who provide engineering equipment to control substances hazardous to
health have a legal requirement to examine and test this equipment in order to comply
with Regulation 9.

The employer must ensure that LEV equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in
efficient working order and in good repair.  A thorough examination and test should
be carried out at least once every 14 months including all oil mist, welding fume,
smoke and dust extraction units that you currently have on site.  Other systems
require much more frequent testing.


It is also the duty of the employer to keep a suitable record of the examination for a
period of at least 5 years.  This record should also include details of repairs carried
out as a result of the examination and test.

What COSHH and the HSE say

COSHH Regulations require that in accordance with Regulation 7, the exposure of
employees to substances hazardous to health be either prevented, or where that is not reasonably practical, adequately controlled.  In accordance with Regulation 8 there is a
duty on the employee to use LEV provided and to report any defects observed. 

Regulation 9 requires that any control measure taken to comply with Regulation 7 must
be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.

APS can provide comprehensive testing services to include a fully documented test
certificate, drawings and a system logbook.  This is normally supported by a site visit
and a review of findings to determine the next steps for non-complying systems. 

This stage is vital to avoid certificates being submitted and then leaving the client to
deal with any repairs.  Our aim is to identify what needs to be done and inform the
client on how best to carry out the improvements, this is normally a staged process
dependant on the severity and consequence of the failure.

Our inspection and report will include the following:

A summary action plan
Final assessment of level of control
Conclusion on control effectiveness
Visual Appraisal of the LEV System
Qualitative assessment of effectiveness.
Measurements of airflows and comparisons with original commissioning data.
Labelling of tested equipment showing pass/fail status.
Detailed LEV user manual
Logbook with details of check and maintenance activities
LEV Commissioning Report


Personal Sampling

APS can provide a comprehensive air sampling service to assist compliance with
COSHH 2002, a subsection of occupational hygiene.  Employers have a duty of care
to safely manage the harmful effects of substances by complying with COSHH and to
reducethe risk of accidents at work.  Our services include measuring exposure to
harmful substances and comparing this with current workplace exposure limits (WEL). 

This includes monitoring for Dust (wood, cement, flour), Fumes (metal, rubber),
Solvents and isocyanates, and Irritants (acid mists).

Employers have a duty to ensure each of their employees are not exposed to any concentration of substance in excess of the workplace exposure limit for that substance.

The workplace exposure limit (WEL) value is expressed as a time weighted average
(TWA) and there are two variations, the long term exposure limit (LTEL) which is the
maximum exposure permitted over an 8-hour period and the short term exposure
limit (STEL) which is the maximum exposure permitted over a 15 minute reference period.  

The LTEL is designed to protect the workforce from concentrations of contaminant,
which over a large period of time could cause long term chronic ill health effects.

Whereas the STEL exposure limit is designed to protect against immediate acute ill health effects.

For a full list of the new and revised WEL values see the supplement to EH40/2007 on
the HSE website www.hse.gov.uk/legislation


Following sampling we can assess current working practices and suggest means of
preventing or reducing exposure to hazardous substances by improving safety
measures (protective equipment, PPE) and control strategies such as LEV.


Maintenance and Service

In accordance with COSHH Regulations 9 the employer must ensure “A thorough
examination and test should be carried out at least one every 14 months”.

All machines must be regularly maintained, and even if you have a maintenance
department, it is invariably too overloaded to keep an eye on the waste system. 

So why not consider passing that responsibility to us.  At present , many large and
small companies use our service.  Let us eliminate the emergency call, plan the
maintenance, and prevent the expensive breakdown. 

Even if you have a system installed by another company, we are happy to give
you a competitive quotation to service your plant on a one-off basis or as part
of a Maintenance Contract.

All our service agreements can be tailored with individual needs, such as visit intervals
or a diagnostic check each month.  All services include full documentation, checklists,
analysis reports and operator recommendations.

Prevention before you need a costly cure.

We understand that manufacturing – not maintenance – is your main focus.  Allowing
you to concentrate on your strengths, we will provide you with the best and most
complete portfolio of services. 

Preventative maintenance services minimize your downtime and maximize your bottom
line.  Whether competent advice or a full service solution, we take care of all your needs, whatever they might be.

The work, in accordance, with HSG258 should only be carried out by competent personnel. 

We will develop a custom-made maintenance scheme for you.  We will create added
value by reducing your total cost of ownership.  We will offer you a service to ensure
your filtration system operates under optimal conditions – cost effectively and at the
highest quality level.

A comprehensive range of services especially designed to keep your production at peak performance and at the lowest total cost of ownership.

We can provide you all filter replacements from one course irrespective of the type or
make, for most applications, and will reduce your cost of ownership, simplify your
purchasing process, reduce working capital and eliminate the number of suppliers
providing replacements.

As well as the HSE258 (Controlling airborne contaminants at work; a guide to local
exhaust ventilation) guidance note to which we work in accordance with, there are
also two more useful guides available from the HSE, free of charge, and aimed particularly at the employer, these are: