What's measured
After a thorough examination, many examiners leave a label on each hood - and a red one is the one that matters. The green, amber and red system is a quick visual signal of whether a hood passed, needs attention, or must not be relied on. It is good practice rather than strict law.
The short answer
After a thorough examination, many examiners leave a label on each hood - and a red one is the one that matters. The green, amber and red system is a quick visual signal of whether a hood passed, needs attention, or must not be relied on. It is good practice rather than strict law.
The detail
There is no specific legal requirement to label LEV at all. What the law requires is that the employer maintains the system's performance and arranges a thorough examination and test at least every fourteen months. HSE guidance, though, recommends that examiners label each hood with a test record, and issue a red label - or equivalent - for any hood that fails, because supervisors and operators need to know at a glance when a hood is not to be trusted. A missing label is not the same as a missing fault, but a red one is always a fault that has been found.
Building on that, many examiners use a traffic-light scheme. Green marks a hood performing as intended. Amber marks one that is borderline, or working now but due remedial attention soon. Red marks a hood that has failed and should not be relied on to protect anyone. Alongside the colour, the label carries the test date, the next test due date and the examiner's identity, so it doubles as the record that the hood was examined at all.
What it means for you
The value of the label is immediacy. A supervisor or operator can see in a second that a hood has failed, without hunting through a report. A red label is a plain warning that the hood is not controlling exposure, and that the work relying on it needs to stop or change until it is put right - it is there to be acted on, not filed.
But the label has limits. Because labelling is not a legal duty, its absence does not mean a system is fine - plenty of sound systems are simply unlabelled. The definitive record is always the written thorough examination report, which sets out exactly what was found and what needs doing. A clear label turns that report into something the shop floor can act on instantly; it never replaces it. In a busy shop the label is often the only thing a passing operator will ever read, so getting it right matters as much as the report behind it.
The service behind the guide
We label every hood we test with a clear record and status, and back it with a report that spells out what passed, what failed and the remedial actions needed.
Questions
That the hood has failed its examination and should not be relied on to control exposure. Work relying on it needs to stop or change until the fault is put right.
No. There is no specific legal duty to label LEV. The law requires the employer to maintain performance and arrange a thorough examination at least every fourteen months. HSE guidance recommends labelling as good practice.
In the common traffic-light scheme, green marks a hood performing as intended and amber marks one that is borderline or needs remedial attention soon, though it may still be working for now.
Usually the test date, the next test due date and the examiner's identity, so the label also serves as a record that the hood was examined and when it is next due.
Not necessarily either way. Because labelling is not required, an unlabelled hood may be perfectly sound. The definitive record is always the written thorough examination report, not the label.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
We label every hood we test with a clear record and status, and give you a report that spells out what passed, what failed and what to do about it.