Badged Courses

Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) Awareness

The pilot for what we hope will develop into a full range of Badged Courses is an LEV Awareness course, run by some of our existing course providers, during 2009.  (Want to know more about what a Badged Course is?)

There is dust where there shouldn't be here,
so the LEV system is ineffective. Do you
know if yours is? Click here to watch our
introduction to LEV to find out if you'd benefit.

Why LEV awareness?
Many employees are made ill every year as a result of exposure to hazardous substances, such as dusts and fumes, which have not been adequately controlled. LEV is - or should be - an important part of many exposure control strategies. 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published new guidance  on LEV (HSG258, 'Controlling airborne contaminants at work; a guide to local exhaust ventilation'), and HSE inspectors will be checking workplaces for appropriate and effective LEV systems. BOHS has been working closely with HSE in support of its LEV campaign. In recent years, we have developed two new qualifications for testers and designers of LEV systems (P601 and P602, respectively) and the new HSE guidance refers to both of these as one measure of competency in these areas.  The LEV Awareness badged courses will provide another link in the HSE campaign by helping employers, facility managers, works managers, and health and safety managers to be aware of their duties.  The course providers running these badged courses are mostly already running LEV courses leading to our P601 and P602 examinations, and have all also been on one of HSL's Trainer, Advisor Briefing Days which provide background information and the material used on HSE's own new LEV course for its inspectors. 

And there is a definite need to raise awareness of LEV.  There are many reasons why LEV controls are inadequate, or missing completely - from a lack of understanding of the risk of exposure, through difficulties in working out what's causing exposure, to inappropriate design of systems. Of approximately 100,000 businesses in the UK using LEV to control risk, some 60,000 do not have it tested.  Which means that 60% are breaking the law, just by not testing!    

Much of the testing itself is inappropriate and ineffective. As a result, the numbers of workers at risk of exposure are too high, and many, many businesses will be vulnerable to HSE enforcement measures.

It is clear that there is a large market for a good quality LEV Awareness course aimed at those who are ultimately responsible for their employees' health, and their managers. HSE inspectors will be promoting the need for awareness training as part of their advice out in the field.   Find out if you would benefit from attending this course by clicking on the sad face above to launch our short introduction to LEV.  If you already know you'd benefit, link to the course providers below to find the venue/date which suits you best.

LEV Awareness Course Providers
For dates and venues of forthcoming courses please contact the course providers directly:-

ACE Ltd; contact Alex Nicoll; 
www.asbestos-ace.co.uk

Gully Howard Technical Limited; contact Trudy Bishop;
www.gullyhowardtechnical.com

Health & Safety Laboratory; contact Lynne Marik;
www.hsl.gov.uk/training/courses/bohs_lev.html

Oxyl8 Consultants; contact Bill Cassells;
www.oxyl8.com

Workforce First; contact Leila Kirk; 
tel: 01922 438603/0800 804 8564

The first of our pilot badged LEV Awareness courses are being run from January 2009.  WE WILL BE ADDING LINKS ABOVE TO ADDITIONAL COURSE PROVIDERS TAKING PART IN THIS PILOT SCHEME DURING 2009 SO PLEASE KEEP CHECKING.

In the interim, if you want further information on the BOHS Badged Course scheme and pilot please contact:

What is a Badged Course?

Put simply, BOHS will badge existing courses in subjects which cover issues related to occupational hygiene whose syllabuses have been approved. Course providers receive the endorsement of BOHS for that course and can badge their course material and certification with the BOHS logo.

Initially, we undertook a detailed research project with occupational health training providers which confirmed a significant level of interest in a BOHS Badged Course scheme.  The scheme has since been developed with a view to making sure that awareness training in all aspects of occupational hygiene is of the highest possible standard and that BOHS, as the leading professional body in this field, is central to its development.

By badging courses run by training providers, BOHS will be (a) raising the profile of the profession; (b) signposting potential candidates to good quality courses and (c) providing an audit function to ensure that the quality of the badged courses is maintained in the long-term.

Before we proceed with the full Badged Course scheme, we are running the LEV Awareness pilot to determine how best to operate it, and also to allow potential course providers the opportunity to participate in its development.