The most important reason: Employee Health
The HSE identified that in 2021/22 1.8million workers suffered from work related ill health. Workers contract occupational lung diseases such as occupational asthma and silicosis.
Thousands of British workers contract occupational lung diseases such as occupational asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease each year. Many people die or are permanently disabled by these conditions and are unable to work. People develop these diseases because they breathe in too much dust, fume or other airborne contaminants at work, often because control measures do not work well enough. Most industries are affected, including woodworking, welding, paint-spraying, stonemasonry, engineering and foundry work.
What is LEV?
LEV is a control system that help employers effectively control exposure to fume, dust, mist gas, or vapour in a workplace by extracting and cleaning the air in the environment.
HSG258 Controlling airborne contaminants at work – A guide to local exhaust ventilation (LEV) (third edition, published 2017) provides guidance on designing, commissioning and testing effective LEV.
Where employers use or intend to use LEV they must ensure that it is appropriate for the task, installed and operated correctly and subsequently maintained so it continues to operate as when originally installed. Suppliers of LEV can play an important role in helping the employer with the design, installation and maintenance of the equipment – LEV Extractions Services can assist in all aspects of this.
Good design: Choosing the correct hood size and design is considered the most important aspect
Here are a few issues that can arise if things are not done correctly or if changes in the workshop occur i.e. having a workshop move around
- Sources of exposure are missed
- Wrong systems are installed
- Existing controls have deteriorated
- Poor system training and controls are not used correctly
This can be solved by working with LEV Extraction services, as we will;
- Assist with correct LEV choice
- Provide LEV that is fit for purpose
- Questioning whether existing controls are working well enough (Site survey)
