Elite Executives Health & Safety Club

Noise at Work
(Noise the 'unwanted sound')

Do you have a problem?

You do if:

• You have to shout to be clearly heard by someone 2m away;
• You or your employees' ears are still ringing on completion of work or after leaving the workplace;
• Or you have people using equipment which causes explosive noise such as cartridge-operated tools

What are the health effects?

• Temporary
  • Experienced after leaving a noisy environment and usually recovers within a few hours.
    This should not be ignored. It is a sign that exposure to the noise could cause permanent damage.

• Permanent
  • Can be caused by sudden and extremely loud explosive noises, for example: guns or cartridge operated machines
  • But usually from gradual and prolonged exposure
  • Incurable hearing loss combined with normal loss due to age may mean having family troubles such as;
  • Unable to hear the television - having it too loud
  • Cannot keep up with family or social conversation
  • Cannot hear when using the telephone
    
• Illness
  • Can cause illness such as Tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears) giving disturbed sleep, increased stress and could cause a safety hazard while at work

What are your Legal Responsibilities?

Every employer has a legal duty under the Noise at Work Regulation to reduce the risk of damage to hearing

The requirements apply where noise exposure is likely to be at or above the three action levels.

• First action level - L EP,D = 85 dB(A) (L EP,D = daily personal exposure level)
• Second action level - L EP,D = 90 dB(A)
• Peak action level - 200 pascals (140 dB) (maximum pressure reached by the sound wave from a single loud noise

New requirements will be coming into force (the Noise at Work Regulation 2005) in April 2006

• There is not much change in the philosophy of the regulation but a reduction in the action levels
• The lower exposure action level is reduced to 80dB(A) , and the upper level is reduced to 85dB(A) . Existing duties for both action levels remain the same; to provide hearing protection upon request at the lower level, and to provide and enforce its use at the higher level.
• Maximum Exposure Limit Value
• A new limit introduction of 87dB(A) - The Noise Exposure of any employee, including the use of hearing protection.
• Weekly Noise Exposure Level
• Where the noise exposure of a worker varies markedly from day to day, a weekly average based on five 8 hour measurements can be used to assess the risk against the Action Levels and the Maximum Exposure Limit Value.

An example of typical sound levels - click here

The full table list of changes - click here