COSHH, law & TExT
Booking a test every 14 months feels like compliance. It is one step of a duty that starts long before the examiner arrives.
The short answer
It is easy to treat LEV compliance as a single annual event. In reality the thorough examination and test sits at the end of a chain: COSHH Regulation 7 requires you to prevent or adequately control exposure, Regulation 8 requires you to make sure the controls are actually used and kept working, and Regulation 9 requires you to maintain them, examine and test them, and keep the records. Book only the test and you have done the last part while neglecting the first two.
The detail
The duty starts with control that is fit for the substance and the process - the right hood in the right place, moving enough air. It continues with use: operators positioning work correctly, reporting faults, and the weekly checks HSG258 expects being done and recorded. The TExT then confirms, once every 14 months at most, that all of this is still holding up.
None of these steps substitutes for another. A perfectly maintained system that operators bypass is not controlling exposure; a well-used system that has never been examined cannot be shown to be working. The regulations interlock deliberately, and an inspector reads them together.
What it means for you
A crucial point that catches employers out: outsourcing the test to a competent contractor outsources the test method, not the legal duty. The employer remains the duty holder. If the examiner flags a defect and it is not acted on, that is the employer's breach, not the contractor's.
That is why the paperwork around the test matters as much as the test. The logbook, the weekly check records and the closed-out remedial actions are what turn a one-day examination into a defensible, continuous control regime - and what stands up when someone who was not there asks how you know the system is still safe.
It also means the duty does not pause between tests. Control has to hold every shift, not just on the day the examiner visits, which is why the weekly checks and the habit of fixing faults promptly matter as much as the annual examination itself.
The service behind the guide
Alongside the thorough examination and test, we help you put the surrounding duty in order - the weekly checks, the logbook and acting on findings - so compliance is a habit rather than an annual scramble.
Questions
No. The test satisfies part of Regulation 9, but Regulations 7 and 8 also require you to provide adequate control and ensure it is used and maintained. Compliance is the whole chain, not the annual examination alone.
The employer who provides the LEV to control exposure. That duty cannot be transferred to a testing contractor - you can outsource the test method but not the legal responsibility.
Yes. Engaging a competent examiner discharges the practical task, but the employer remains responsible for maintaining the system and acting on the examiner's findings.
Regulation 7 requires exposure to be prevented or adequately controlled; Regulation 8 requires controls to be properly used and maintained; Regulation 9 requires maintenance, thorough examination and testing, and record keeping.
Treating the 14-month test as the entire duty. The frequent failure is neglecting the weekly checks, the logbook and closing out remedial actions - the evidence that control was continuous between tests.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
We test to COSHH Regulation 9 and help you close the gaps around it - logbook, weekly checks and remedial actions - so your control regime is defensible. Call or email to talk it through.