COSHH / HSG258 · UK-Wide
Statutory thorough examination and testing of local exhaust ventilation for workshops and production sites across the UK, keeping fume and dust control compliant with COSHH and HSE guidance HSG258.
COSHH
Wherever a process puts fume, dust, mist or vapour into the air, COSHH requires it controlled at source - which means local exhaust ventilation, examined and tested at least every fourteen months.
Welding and fabrication, CNC and metalworking, vehicle body and paint, woodworking and joinery, food and drink production, electronics and clinical labs - all rely on LEV to keep people safe. We carry out the statutory thorough examination and test to HSE guidance HSG258 for workshops and production sites across the UK, with capture and face-velocity readings, a clear pass or remedial outcome and system labelling.
By sector
If a process captures fume, dust, mist or vapour at source, that capture system is LEV - and it is your evidence under COSHH.
On-torch extraction, fume arms and downdraught benches. Since the HSE's 2019 reclassification, all welding fume - mild steel included - is treated as carcinogenic, so the test record matters.
Oil-mist extraction on machining centres. Mist collectors clog quietly; a measured face velocity is the only way to prove they still capture.
Spray-booth and prep-bay extraction. Two-pack paints release isocyanates - the leading cause of occupational asthma - so booth airflow is examined to its design figure.
Dust extraction on saws, sanders and routers. Hardwood dust is a known carcinogen; ductwork and filters are checked for capture and leakage.
Flour-dust and process extraction across bakeries and production kitchens - high-output sites where dust and fume control is easy to overlook.
Fume-cupboard face-velocity testing for universities, colleges and clinical labs, to the containment their work demands.
The test
A statutory LEV test under HSG258 is not a visual once-over. It answers three things: is the system intact, does it still capture, and does that capture match what it was designed to do.
Ductwork, hoods, filters, fans and dampers checked for damage, blockage and leakage — the faults that quietly kill capture.
Face and capture velocities, static pressures and airflows measured at each hood with calibrated instruments — numbers, not opinion.
Readings compared to the system's commissioning figures, so drift from "as designed" is caught before it becomes a failure.
Where exposure is in question, sampling confirms whether control is actually protecting the people at the process.
Fourteen months
COSHH Regulation 9 puts a hard duty on the employer: any LEV controlling a hazardous substance must have a thorough examination and test at least every fourteen months, with records kept for five years.
Miss the fourteen-month clock and the system is non-compliant the day it lapses, whatever its condition. We examine, label each hood with its status and next-due date, and issue the report an HSE inspector or your insurer will ask to see. If something fails, you get the reading, the cause and the fix - not just a red sticker.
How it runs
Full visual and structural check of every hood, duct run, filter and fan.
Calibrated velocity, pressure and airflow readings at each extraction point.
A COSHH-compliant report: results against benchmark, clear pass or fail, plain-English actions.
Each system tagged with status and next-due date, so compliance is visible on the wall.
Questions
Under COSHH Regulation 9, most local exhaust ventilation needs a thorough examination and test at intervals no greater than 14 months, with some higher-risk processes more often. We set the right interval for every system we test.
No. LEV testing is a statutory examination of fume and dust control to COSHH and HSG258, with capture and face-velocity readings; TR19 is about kitchen grease and fire risk. We carry out both, but they are kept as the separate jobs they are.
Welding and fabrication, CNC and metalwork, vehicle body and paint, woodworking and joinery, print and coating, food production, electronics and the engineering and science labs of universities and hospitals.
A dated report to the HSG258 method, with the readings taken, a pass or remedial outcome for each hood, and system labelling - the evidence a duty-holder needs for their COSHH records.
We record it as remedial and set out what is needed - airflow, ductwork, filtration or capture at the hood. You carry out the work and we re-test; we will not pass a system that does not control exposure properly.
We test across the UK - industrial estates, workshops, and university and hospital labs nationwide. Call 07961 915018 or email officeductclean@gmail.com with your location.
Yes. We plan testing around shift patterns at production sites, term-time access at universities, and normal hours at smaller workshops, so the examination never has to stop the line.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
Stay compliant with COSHH and HSG258. No-obligation quote, UK-wide.