Every year thousands of people in Great Britain die of lung disease or get asthma because of airborne contaminants they have breathed in at work. In order to combat this, new health and safety legislation was launched on the 20th May. The aim of the legislation as stated by the governments Health and Safety Executive is to “Bring about a significant and measurable improvement in the coverage and effectiveness of engineering exposure controls particularly LEV in Great Britain”. This means a significant effort to reduce the exposure of workers to dusts and fumes and to greatly reduce the cases of respiratory disease.
The legislation focuses on three key areas: |
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Time to clean the air! A workers' pocket guide to local exhaust ventilation (LEV)
- Employees, a pocket guide has been produced to help employees check the effectiveness of dust and fume equipment that they use, with details of daily checks that will help them monitor the effectiveness of equipment.
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Clearing the air A simple guide to buying and using local exhaust ventilation (LEV)
- Employers, a buyers guide has been made available to help employers understand the importance of dust and fume extraction equipment, what questions to ask suppliers, how to identify competent suppliers and to show the importance of regular maintenance and testing of equipment.
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Controlling airborne contaminants at work A guide to local exthaust ventilation(LEV)
- Suppliers, new guidance known as HSG 258, is given on legal responsibilities, design criteria, levels of competence for design and testing and the provision of more detailed instruction and user manuals.
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Nederman Ltd participated in the group that has helped shape the new legislation over the past two years and the fundamental endeavours of the new guidance fit perfectly with our aim of “improving your workspace”.
Further information may be found on www.hse.gov.uk/lev/index.htm |