Is your workplace noisy?

By Bradley Environmental
schedule28th Oct 11

If your workplace is noisy, you may need to know about the Control of Noise at Work Regulations. They came into effect on 6 April 2006 and will help protect workers from permanent hearing damage.

You will probably need to take some action if any of the following apply to you or your workers:

You’re surrounded by intrusive noise for most of the working day. You have to raise your voice to be heard by someone just two metres away for atleast part of the day. You use noisy powered tools or machinery for more than half an hour a day. You work in a noisy industry such as engineering or manufacturing. Your work causes impacts such as hammering, drop forging, pneumatic impacttools etc. You work with explosive sources such as cartridge-operated tools or detonators, or guns.

Bradley Environmental offer a wide range of professional noise monitoring and measurement services. Services range from simple acoustic testing to detailed noise at work risk assessments of an entire factory. 

Examples where noise shouldn’t be a problem:

Busy offices; Shops; Travelling in cars on motorways.

Key points

Hearing loss caused by work is preventable but once your hearing has gone, it won’t come back. Some 170 000 people in Britain suffer deafness, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), or other ear conditions from harmful levels of noise at work. The Regulations introduce a reduction in the acceptable noise levels at work. There are many practical, cost-effective ways of protecting yourself and your workers. HSE continues to work in partnership with employers and other organisations to find practical solutions to noise risks at work. Business benefits include lower sickness absence, lower staff turnover, improved productivity and enhanced reputation.

What next?

If you would like more information on noise monitoring, risk assessments and surveys please contact me on 0121 550 0224 or email me at sflynn@bradley-enviro.co.uk.

Stephen Flynn