What an LEV thorough examination report should show
A list of airflow figures is not a report.
A thorough examination and test of local exhaust ventilation ends in a record the employer has to keep and be able to show. HSE guidance, HSG258, sets out what that record should hold. Here is what an LEV thorough examination report should show, in plain terms, and how a testing firm keeps every client on time.
Edward Bristow3 November 20264 min read
What the law asks for
Regulation 9 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) asks employers to have their local exhaust ventilation thoroughly examined and tested at least once every 14 months. A small number of processes, listed in Schedule 4, need it more often. The record of each examination is kept for at least five years.
The duty sits with the employer. The examination is done by someone competent to do it, and what they hand back is the report the employer keeps, shows to an inspector and uses to book any repair.
What an LEV thorough examination report should show
HSE guidance HSG258 sets out what the record of a thorough examination and test should hold. In plain terms, the report should show:
- Who and where. The employer, the site, and which LEV system was examined, with the process and the substance it controls.
- What it is meant to do. The performance the system was designed or commissioned to give, so the readings have something to be judged against.
- The conditions on the day. Whether the process was running normally while the test was done.
- What was found. The condition of each hood, the ducting, filter and fan, with the readings taken and how they were taken.
- Whether it still controls exposure. A clear answer for each system, not just a list of numbers.
- What needs doing. Defects found and the action needed, so the client can book the repair.
- Who examined it and when. The examiner's name, the date, and when the next examination is due.
Where LEV reports fall short
Each of those parts is easy to leave thin when a report is typed up at a desk days after the visit:
- Readings with no design figure beside them, so nobody can tell whether a number is good or bad.
- A pass or fail with no reason, which leaves the client unsure what to fix.
- A defect listed without the hood or part it belongs to, or without the action needed.
- No next due date, so the next visit is booked from memory.
The examiner decides whether a system controls exposure. The report has to make that judgement, and the evidence behind it, easy to find.
Keeping every client on the 14-month cycle
For a testing firm, every client site runs on its own clock. Miss one and the client is out of date; book too early and the visit costs more than it should. Putting the next due date on each report, and on the record behind it, is how the office keeps every site on time without a separate spreadsheet. Check the HSE guidance for the processes your clients run: the interval for a process is the examiner's and the employer's call, not the software's.
How LEV TExT handles it
LEV TExT by SMART Reports records LEV thorough examination and test reports on the examiner's phone. The examiner records each LEV system and its hoods or capture points, readings at each test point, photos, and the condition of hoods, ducting, filters and fan. Defects are recorded with the action needed, against the hood or part. The report is laid out in the HSG258 order and carries the date the next examination is due, which stays on the record for planning.
The office books on a laptop and the examiner works on the phone; both see the same job, and the office can open the draft PDF before it is issued. Only staff the firm holds an examiner qualification for (P601 or P604) can be chosen to examine and issue a report. £90 a month, every examiner and office user included. No VAT charged.