Your organisation has invested in a local exhaust ventilation (LEV) system to remove known (but often invisible) airborne contaminants from the workplace …but even so it can still be all too easy to fall foul of Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations if you don’t test the equipment.
Employer responsibilities don’t end with the installation of fume and dust extraction technology; COSHH also require rigorous 14-monthly inspections by “competent” qualified engineers (BOHS P601) to certify that systems continue to remove contaminants, in line with specified Workplace Exposure Limits (WELs).
WELs are critical to workplace safety because they express time-weighted averages for exposure to hazardous airborne emissions resulting from industrial processes – and the use of an effective LEV system ensures that working environments stay within these specified limits. This is key to preventing common and serious health conditions, including chronic lung disease that is estimated to contribute to more than 14,000 deaths per year and to blight many thousands more through life limiting conditions*.
BOFA is committed to helping its customers ensure that employees go home healthy – day in, day out.
This means keeping work environments safe at all times, and that’s why extraction systems, whether manufactured by BOFA or another company, must be tested and certified annually by a British Occupational Hygiene Society P601 accredited engineer (such as a BOFA technician). This is mandated under Regulation 9/2a of COSHH and failure to comply can result in punitive litigation and reputational harm.
It is also the duty of the employer to keep a suitable record of the examination for a period of at least five years, including details of any repairs carried out as a result of the examination and test.
To ease the burden on employers, BOFA has developed the ProTECT LEV Service Plan to ensure that any LEV system – not just those designed and manufactured by BOFA – are thoroughly examined and tested throughout their working lives.
This involves our engineers using the latest testing methods to measure the performance of LEV systems, checking airflow and pressure, and assessing control effectiveness through a smoke test or Tyndall lamp. And once everything is as it should be, a certificate of compliance is issued, which is also added to the year-on-year inspection log maintained on behalf of customers.
If you don’t have LEV systems in place, we can help you
BOFA can run a free 10-point system health check as a first step for organisations to determine compliance with the law and flag up any areas of concern. This can be booked online and you can also find out more about the ProTECT LEV Service Plan offer here.
When it comes to airborne contaminants, it’s your legal duty to keep people safe…rather than being sorry for causing them unnecessary harm.
Prevention is better than cure.
* UK HSE Labour Force Survey 2016
BOFA’s ProTECT LEV Service Plan covers:
• Installation set up
• Annual thorough inspection test
• VOC test
• Log book updates
• LEV certification
• Operator training
• On-site support
• Discounts and trade in deals
• Loan unit for return to factory repairs
• Telephone help desk
