Businesses are required by law to protect their workforce from airborne hazards such as dust, vapours, and fumes which exceed the Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL).
One practical method is to use Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV).
1.6 million workers at risk of respiratory diseases
COSHH Regulation 9 requires employers to have their LEV system examined and tested at least once every 14 months.
However, it is estimated that there are over 60,000 businesses in contravention of the law with either improperly installed or unmaintained LEV systems. This equates to approximately 1.6 million workers potentially exposed to unsafe levels of dust, vapours, and fumes.
Noncompliance does not only put businesses at risk of HSE fines but also puts the workforce at risk of dangerous respiratory diseases such as asthma, lung disease, and cancer.
Here we explain what is required by law, how LEV works, and why Simdean Group is helping organisations to design, install, test, service, and maintain turnkey dust extraction systems that are tailored to the specific needs and requirements of businesses.
Ensure your workplace is within the HSE’s Workplace Exposure Limit
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the UK government body responsible for the regulation and enforcement of work-related risks to people in the workplace.
As an employer, the HSE specifies that you are responsible for the health, safety, and welfare of your workforce, as well as any other people who are affected by your business.
You must do whatever is reasonably practicable to achieve this.
Harmful levels of dusts and fumes is a common risk identified during workplace health and safety assessments.
Once this risk is identified, employers must do whatever is reasonably practicable to keep their employees safe and ensure that the environment remains in the Workplace Exposure Limits (WEL) as detailed in the HSE Document EH40/2005.
Complying with COSHH Regulation 9
Dust, fume, mist, and vapour exposure is also a key element of the Control of Substances Hazard to Health 2002 (COSHH) regulation.
Under COSHH, companies must take steps to prevent, control, maintain, and monitor dust and fume exposure in the workplace, as laid out in regulation 9.
“Where the regulation is met through the use of engineering controls, the employer shall ensure that thorough examination and testing of those controls are carried out. In the case of local exhaust ventilation plant, this will be at least once every 14 months…”
LEV for Dust Extraction System
It is not always possible to avoid making harmful dusts, fumes, mists, and vapours in working environments.
Therefore, to protect employee health, Local Exhaust Ventilation or LEV systems are installed to take airborne contaminants out of the workplace air so that they cannot be inhaled.
A professionally designed, tested, and maintained LEV will:
Get the right LEV system for the right environment
Simdean Group has the in-house capabilities to provide a turnkey Dust Extraction System to suit your specific needs and requirements including after-sales care, service, and spares.
All our Reverse Jet Cartridge Filters are made in the UK and are UKCA certified.
We design these units to suit the environments they will be located and if the unit is to be in a Zoned Area the system will be suitably ATEX rated.
We have installed our systems in a range of industries and sectors, for example;
As well as our design capabilities to provide the extraction unit, we have P602 qualified engineers with the experience and expertise to assess and design an effective and compliant LEV system to suit your specific requirements – all in compliance to HSG 258.
The Dust Extraction system can be installed complete with a HMI SCADA which can be linked to your BMS/PLC. This can then allow remote access if required always giving you visibility of the operations of the system.
Be confident your workforce is safe and healthy.
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