Noise at Work - Management Brief

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Legislation

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 came into force on the 6th April 2006.  

Exposure Limit Values and Action Values

The Control Of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 specify a number of Exposure Limit Values and Action Values as described below:

          Lower Exposure Values:-

          a daily or weekly personal exposure of 80 dB(A) LEP,d/w ; and
          a peak sound pressure of 135dB(C)

          Upper Exposure Values:-

          a daily or weekly personal exposure of 85 dB(A) LEP,d/w; and
          a peak sound pressure of 137dB(C)

          The Exposure Limit Values:-

          a daily or weekly personal exposure of 87 dB(A) LEP,d/w; and
          a peak sound pressure of 140dB(C)

The assessment of exposure is performed as a daily personal noise exposure designated LEP,d. and equates to an 8 hour time weighted exposure.  In calculating the exposure level as LEP,d no account is taken of any hearing protection being used.

Responsibilities of Employer under the above Regulations

Every employer who carries out work which is liable to expose any employees to noise at or above a lower exposure action value shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk from that noise to the health and safety of those employees, and the risk assessment shall identify the measures which need to be taken to meet the requirements of the Regulations.  Regulation5

Employers must regularly review these risk assessments, take account of any changes and consult with their employees on these risk assessments.                                                                     Regs. 5(4)(5)

Employers must also record the significant findings of the risk assessments and the measures taken to eliminate or control exposure to noise at the workplace.                                                             Reg. 5(6)

Every employer shall ensure that risk from the exposure of his employees to noise is either eliminated at source or, where this is not reasonably practicable, reduced to as low as is reasonably practicable.                                                                                         Reg. 6

Every employer shall, whenever any of his employees is likely to be exposed to noise at or above a lower exposure action value, make personal hearing protectors available upon request to any employee who is so exposed.                                                                                                               Reg. 7(1)

If an employer is unable to reduce the levels of noise to below the upper exposure action value he shall provide personal hearing protectors to any employee who is so exposed.                                    Reg. 7(2)

If in any area under the control of the employer there is likely to be a noise level at or above an upper exposure action value then the employer shall ensure [Reg 7(3)] that

•   the area is designated a hearing protection zone,
• the area is demarcated and identified my means of a sign indicating that ear protection must be worn (as per H&S Safety Signs & Signals Regulations 1996)
•   access to this area is restricted and that no employee enters this area without wearing personal hearing protectors.

    
Employers shall ensure that only hearing protectors designed to eliminate risk to hearing or reduce the risk to as low as is practicable are used and that employees or their representatives are consulted regarding the hearing protectors made available or provided.                                                      Reg. 7(4)

Employers shall ensure that anything provided by them in compliance with these regulations is full and properly used and is maintained in an efficient state, efficient working order and in good repair.

Responsibilities of Employees under the above Regulations

Employees must make full and proper use of personal hearing protectors provided to them by their employer in compliance with Regulation 7(2) and any of the control measures provided by their employer in compliance with his duties under these Regulations.

If any employee discovers a defect in any personal hearing protectors or other control measures implemented by her/his employer under these regulations, then (s)he must report it forthwith to her/his employer as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Summary and Recommendations for Elimination / Control of Exposure to Noise
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Actions where Employees may be Exposure to Noise over an Upper Action Level

The actions that should be taken to reduce employee exposure to below the exposure limits are as follows:

Elimination – Wherever possible excessive sources of noise should be eliminated.

Quieter Equipment – Where the above is not possible, attention must be given to attenuating as much of the noise, liberated by all of the items of equipment producing noise, as is reasonably practicable.  This could include a mixture of plant maintenance, installation of noise reduction mountings, use of acoustic absorption materials and reflection/deflection and absorption techniques which may all yield some noise reduction in the area of concern.  Longer term, replacement of the facilities or equipment liberating noise should be considered wherever possible employing low noise equipment.

Work Places – Where the above cannot be achieved then consideration should be given to employing acoustic / noise attenuating techniques within the workplace so as to reduce noise below the Lower A ction Level

Work Practices – should be studied to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that hey do not contribute to the noise levels and also to examine how they may be changed so as to reduce the level and duration of exposure to high noise levels.

Rest Facilities – It should be ensured that rest facilities which are, as far as is reasonably practicable free from excessive noise, are available for use by any operatives that have to work within high noise environments.  More importantly it should be ensured that these facilities are actually used.

Information, Instruction and Training – All operatives working within high noise areas should be provided with information instruction and training with regard to: -

• to the nature of the risks presented by the plant and equipment that they are using
• the control measures that have been put in place to ensure that they are not over exposed to noise
• the meaning of the exposure limit values and the upper and lower exposure action values set out in the Regulations
• the significant findings of the noise risk assessments that have been carried out, the results of any measurements taken and a practical explanation as to what these findings and measurements mean
• the availability and suitability of hearing protectors, their availability and correct usage
• why and how to detect and report signs of hearing damage
• their entitlement to health surveillance and its purpose
• safe working practices that are required to be followed in order to minimise exposure to noise
• the collective results of any health surveillance programmes

Maintenance Programmes – The maintenance and replacement programmes for the work equipment measured during any such noise survey and also in respect of any hearing protection that has been defined for use should in relation to this work should be reviewed following any such survey and thereafter at regular intervals to ensure that they continue to be fit for purpose

Limitation of Duration and/or Intensity – Wherever possible action should be taken to limit the duration and intensity of exposure to any noise sources above the Lower Exposure Value

Hearing Protection – Only as a last resort should hearing protection be resorted to.  Wherever possible noise should either be eliminated, controlled at source or along its transmission path.  However where all actions taken still do not enable the control of noise to below the Lower Exposure Value then hearing protection must be provided.   The provision of hearing protection should not be seen as a final solution but as a stop-gap until better levels of noise control can be found and implemented.

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