Is Your Workplace Noise Compliant?
The Health and Safety Executive is running a webinar titled, ‘What are HSE Inspectors asking about when they ask about workplace noise?’. This could mean HSE inspectors are coming. This blog aims to address the concerns of health and safety professionals and provide guidance to keep workers safe and the business noise compliant.
The Easiest Way to be Noise Compliant
Call upon experts such as Synergy Environmental Solutions to help pre-HSE inspection. Our team consist of Associate Members of the Institute of Acoustics and BOHS W503 qualified consultants. We have an in-depth understanding of the Control of Noise at Work Regulations and utilise state-of-the-art dosimeters and sound pressure level meters for noise monitoring. Thanks to this advanced technology, we can assess 1:1 Octave Band, A and C-weighted sound levels, personal noise dose, and peak sound levels simultaneously to ensure a comprehensive and detailed analysis. We also provide noise health surveillance to conduct workforce hearing tests for vulnerable workers.
The Risks of Workplace Noise
Hearing Issues
Hearing loss caused by workplace noise is a major occupational disease. According to the HSE, between 2018 and 2021, there were 14,000 workers with workplace-related hearing problems. There were also 1125 new cases of occupational deafness from 2010 to 2019.
Several workplace-related hearing conditions can affect employees due to excessive noise exposure, these include, but are not limited to:
- Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)
- Tinnitus
- Temporary Threshold Shift
- Ototoxicity
- Hyperacusis
Workplace Safety
Noise can impact workplace communication and awareness of surroundings. As such, there are safety risks with excessive noise when warnings go unheard or people who are unaware of potential hazards around them.
What the Law States
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 stipulate that you must eliminate or minimise health and safety risks arising from noise in the workplace. The Regulation’s main sections cover the application of the law, exposure limit and action values, assessment of noise risks, elimination and control, hearing protection, equipment use and maintenance, health surveillance, and information, instruction and training. We’ll aim to provide everything you need to know about these sections in this article, so you remain noise compliant.
In brief, the law states, depending on the level of risk, you should:
- Take steps to reduce daily personal noise exposure to below 85dB(A), averaged over 8 hours.
- Where control measures are not enough or infeasible, provide employees with personal hearing protection.
The Regulations also require you to:
- Ensure that the exposure limit values aren’t exceeded.
- Maintain and ensure the proper use of any equipment provided to control noise risks.
- Supply your employees with information, instruction, and training.
- Monitor workers’ hearing ability via health surveillance.
These Regulations apply whenever work activities expose people to health and safety risks from noise.
Noise Exposure Limit Values and Action Values
Exposure limits and action values are based on daily personal noise exposure and peak sound pressure. Personal noise exposure is a decibel value for the daily employee noise exposure, taking into account the level of noise and the duration of exposure. Sound pressure is the local pressure deviation from the ambient atmospheric pressure.
Where noise levels vary, exposure can be measured over the week to help obtain an accurate understanding of employee exposure levels.
For information about how these values are measured, refer to the L108 document, Schedule 1 Part 1 for personal noise exposure, and Schedule 2 for peak sound pressure.
It is worth noting that you should not make allowances for hearing protection when carrying out noise exposure monitoring.
Exposure Action Values
Exposure Action Values (EAVs) refer to the level of noise at which an employer must take action. There are two types of EAVs: Lower Exposure Action Value and Upper Exposure Action Value. Each dictates what an employer must do to protect its workers; we’ll cover this later.
- Lower Exposure Action Values:
- a daily or weekly personal noise exposure of 80 dB (A-weighted); and
- a peak sound pressure of 135 dB (C-weighted).
- Upper Exposure Action Values:
- a daily or weekly personal noise exposure of 85 dB (A-weighted); and
- a peak sound pressure of 137 dB (C-weighted).
Exposure Limit Values
Exposure Limit Values (ELVs) must not be exceeded:
- a daily or weekly personal noise exposure of 87 dB (A-weighted); and
- a peak sound pressure of 140 dB (C-weighted).
Do You Have a Noise Problem?
Working practices may dictate the need for a noise assessment, these include:
- Using warnings such as alarms and warning sounds to alert people to dangerous situations.
- Working around and with traffic or mobile machinery such as forklift trucks.
- Communication-reliant working practices.
The level of noise is also an obvious factor in determining the need for a risk assessment. The L108 regulation guide linked above provides a handy table to show the need to conduct an assessment:
| Test | Probable Noise Level | A risk assessment is needed if the noise is like this for more than: |
|---|---|---|
| The noise is intrusive but normal conversation is possible | 80 dB(A) | 6 hours |
| You have to shout to talk to someone 2 m away | 85 dB(A) | 2 hours |
| You have to shout to talk to someone 1 m away | 90 dB(A) | 45 minutes |
If you’re dealing with workplace noise, it’s crucial to assess if it’s consistently intrusive, if employees struggle to converse normally two metres apart, or if noisy tools are used for over half an hour daily, especially if your industry is known for loud tasks. Should any of these apply, or if there are regular impact or explosive noises, you’ll need to take action to comply with the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 and protect your employees’ hearing.
Decide a Course of Action
If anything in the previous section rings true, it is time for a risk assessment. A noise assessment will enable you to identify risks and develop a plan of action to control noise, protect workers, and ensure compliance.
It is worth calling in an Occupational Hygiene Consultancy like Synergy Environmental Solutions to aid your noise risk assessment. We provide workplace noise monitoring to provide accurate daily personal exposure and sound pressure metrics, and audiometry services to test workers’ hearing. Our consultants will guide you through both health and safety risks as well as guidance for appropriate control measures.
Key elements of a risk assessment:
- Identify risks and affected individuals: Pinpoint areas where noise poses a risk and determine who might be impacted. This includes looking at both health risks and safety risks.
- Estimate employee noise exposure: Figure out how much noise your employees are exposed to.
- Determine compliance actions: Highlight what steps are needed to meet legal requirements. This could involve implementing noise-control measures, providing personal hearing protection, or ensuring safe working practices.
- Identify health surveillance needs: Determine which employees require health surveillance and if any are particularly vulnerable.
Recording and Reviewing Your Assessment
It’s a legal requirement to record the findings of your risk assessment. You also need to document the actions you’ve taken, or plan to take, to comply with the law.
You should review your risk assessment if anything changes or if it’s no longer accurate. For instance, if work practices shift and alter noise exposure, or if there are changes to the availability, suitability, or cost of noise-control solutions. Don’t leave it for more than two years without checking if a review is necessary.
Controlling Noise
You have a wide array of options when it comes to cutting down on noise and limiting exposure in the workplace. Most businesses can find practical, budget-friendly ways to manage noise risks and be noise compliant.
Strategies for Noise Reduction
Start by considering whether you can eliminate the noise source entirely. For example, could you house a noisy machine in a location where employees aren’t exposed to its sound? If that’s not feasible, explore these alternatives:
- Opt for quieter alternatives: Look into using less noisy equipment or adopting a different, quieter process.
- Implement engineering controls: Use technical solutions to reduce noise directly at its source, whether it’s from a machine or a specific process.
- Block or absorb noise: Deploy screens, barriers, enclosures, or sound-absorbent materials to diminish noise as it travels towards your workforce.
- Design for quiet: Rework your workplace layout to create dedicated quiet workstations.
- Improve work methods: Encourage and train employees on techniques that naturally lower noise levels.
- Limit exposure time: Restrict the amount of time individuals spend in noisy environments.
Long-Term Noise Control Measures
To achieve sustained benefits, these measures should be integral to your noise-control strategy:
- Low-noise purchasing policy: Prioritise buying machinery and equipment known for their low noise output.
- Regular, noise-focused maintenance: Ensure your machinery and equipment are maintained properly and frequently, with noise reduction in mind.
Employee Involvement
For your noise-control efforts to be effective, employees often need to play their part. This might mean properly using noise enclosures or following approved low-noise working methods. It’s crucial to ensure your employees have the right information, instruction, and training, and that they are appropriately supervised. Remember, employees also have a responsibility to utilise any noise-control measures you put in place.
Personal Hearing Protection
When to Use It: Provide hearing protection when noise control measures aren’t enough, or as a temporary fix while you implement other solutions. Remember, it’s never a substitute for controlling noise through technical and organisational means.
Your Responsibilities:
- You must supply and ensure proper use of hearing protectors when noise exposure exceeds upper action values.
- You must provide protectors upon request if exposure is between lower and upper action values.
- Designate “hearing protection zones” where wearing protection is advisory or mandatory.
Ensuring Proper Use: To guarantee protectors are worn correctly and consistently, implement supervision and training, and consider spot checks and audits.
Choosing the Right Protection: Select protectors that offer adequate protection without over-isolating the wearer. Consider the work environment, comfort, hygiene, and compatibility with other PPE (like hard hats or eye protection). Always provide CE-marked protectors and consult with your employees and their representatives on the types provided.
It is also important to include hearing protection as part of any systems maintenance to ensure the effectiveness of the protection. Issues such as headband tension and the condition of seals can impact hearing protection effectiveness.
Employee Information, Instruction, and Training
You need to train your employees so they grasp the noise risks they face and their duties under the Noise Regulations. If their exposure is above lower action values, ensure they understand:
- Their likely noise exposure and the risks to their hearing.
- Your risk control measures.
- How and where to get hearing protection, and how to report defects in noise control equipment or PPE.
- Their role in minimising risk, including proper use of controls and protection.
- Your health surveillance programme.
Consulting with Employee Representatives
It’s a legal obligation to consult with safety or employee representatives. Discuss your risk assessment, control plans (including weekly exposure averaging), hearing protection choices, and health surveillance programme with them.
Health Surveillance for Noise
You’re required to provide health surveillance for employees frequently exposed above upper action values or those at particular risk, like individuals with existing hearing loss. Before implementing, discuss this with your trade union safety representative or employee representative and the affected staff.
Typically, health surveillance involves regular hearing checks: annually for the first two years of exposure, then every three years, or more frequently if issues arise or risk is high. These checks must be conducted by appropriately trained personnel (Synergy provides Audiometry Assessments), with results reviewed by a doctor, nurse, or audiologist who can refer employees with hearing problems for further medical advice.
You’ll receive information on an employee’s fitness to work in noisy environments. However, you should only get individual hearing damage details with the employee’s consent. You’ll also see anonymised, grouped health data, which should be shared with employee or safety representatives.
If noise-induced hearing damage is identified, you must act to prevent further harm, considering medical advice on fitness. Based on both individual and grouped information, you’ll need to review your risk assessment, control measures, and health surveillance procedures.
Finally, you must maintain health records detailing surveillance outcomes and fitness for work, keeping them separate from confidential medical results.
Simplify Your Compliance
As you can probably tell from the length of this article, there is a lot to consider when it comes to assessing and controlling noise at work and ensuring you are noise compliant. The easiest and fastest way to work through regulatory requirements, monitoring technicalities, and ensure your workers understand their responsibilities is to work with someone like Synergy. We are experts in the field and can work quickly and unobtrusively to help you assess risks and put a plan together to control them.
Speak to a consultant today to find out how we can help.
