Copyright (c) 2012 Alison Withers
If a business uses industrial or commercial processes that involve workers being exposed to hazardous substances then it must by law take precautions to protect them.
The kinds of substances that may be involved include fine dusts, chemicals, mists and fumes. These substances can be emitted where a manufacturing process involves cutting, sanding, planning, welding and spray painting, although this is by no means an exhaustive list.
Af a production task that involves any of these can be carried out in a specific area of the workplace workers should be protected by installing a Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) system under the HSE's Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002.
First of all it is important that the LEV system installed is adequate to do the job of removing the hazardous material from the air. A typical LEV system consists of a hood or hoods to collect the material, ducts to carry the airborne contaminants away from the process and air cleaners to filter and clean the extracted air. It will also use a fan, of the right size and type to deliver sufficient 'suck' to the hood and must discharge the cleaned air safely into the atmosphere.
Whether modified for a specific operation or not any system installed must be supplied with a manual and log book, a commissioning report and training instructions. These will all be needed in order to comply with other parts of the regulations, which stipulate that LEV systems must be regularly tested by a competent person and records be kept for five years.
This is particularly important because many of the industrial-related conditions, such as cancers, that can be caused by exposure to hazardous materials may take many years to develop.
LEV maintenance, cleaning and LEV testing can only be properly carried out if there is a record of the components of the system as installed and some indication of how they should work efficiently.
The frequency of testing a LEV system and the methods for doing so will depend on how complicated the system is, how likely it is to fail, and the consequences if it does. A complicated LEV that will have serious consequences if it goes wrong needs more frequent checks.
The system's most vulnerable parts are those that contain moving parts, such a fans, where bearings may wear and affect the efficiency of that component. These are likely to need a more frequent LEV test.
Equally, filters can become clogged and debris can collect in the ductwork. They will both eventually impede the free flowing of the air at the stipulated rate to ensure that all the hazardous material is extracted properly. This demonstrates the importance of regular LEV cleaning by a professional organisation competent to handle the substances being extracted safely.
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A regular LEV test is needed to make sure a LEV system is protecting workers effectively from exposure to hazardous substances. Ali Withers. http://www.pro-ductclean.com/local-exhaust-cleaning.asp
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