Noise generated by industrial and commercial premises can impact on residential and other noise sensitive receptors.
Noise at work is usually assessed in terms of the noise exposure that is received by employees. Exposure is a combination of the noise level that a person is exposed to and the duration over which the exposure occurs. In order to determine an employee?s exposure, it is therefore necessary to establish their work pattern, how long they spend in different areas or engaged in different activities and the levels of noise that they are exposed to.
This is so that the employee is not exposed to a certain noise of a certain pitch for longer than a safe amount of time. This is so that the employee doesn’t have damage caused towards their noise sensitive receptors in their body.
Hearing protection is offered and encouraged to all businesses who offer work in areas with alot of machinary that generates alot loud noise. In order to reduce noise exposure, it is necessary to reduce the level of noise, the duration of exposure, or both. The most preferable method of reducing exposure is the reduction of noise at source. This has the benefit of protecting everyone who may be in the vicinity of the noise source and can also alleviate the need for personal hearing protection. It is also possible to reduce the duration of exposure by revising job rotations and ensuring that employees spend the minimum time possible in noisy environments.
There are certain legal requirements in the united kingdom for reducing noise exposure and making sure employee’s have the correct hearing protection. AECL has extensive experience of assessing and providing recommendations for occupational noise exposure and we have undertaken studies ranging from a single employee operating a single machine to large numbers of employees working in factories, construction sites, petrochemical and offshore installations.
We have detailed knowledge of many different industries, noisy equipment and activities and can provide detailed solutions to noise control. On large sites and premises, our approach is to consider the exposure of the entire work force and this allows a detailed cost/benefit analysis of various options to be undertaken. This approach can be complemented by the use of Dosimeters, where appropriate.
