Sounding out the standards
May 1st 2009 Since the introduction of The Control of Nose at Work Regulations 2005,which came into effect fully in 2008, it has become more important than ever for health and safety
practitioners to keep their knowledge up-to-date in this area,says Dr Peter Wheeler
The UK has new regulations on noise at work as a result of
the EU Physical Agents Directive: "The Control of Noise
at Work Regulations 2005". With effect from 2008, its
application extended to workers in the music and
entertainment area, bringing a new set of exposuremanagement
problems for employers. The headline change in
the 2005 Regulations might be seen as the reduction in Action
Levels by 5 decibels, but of major significance is the impact of a
new culture of "risk management and reduction" for workplace
noise exposure. Practitioners need to update their knowledge
and skills in order to continue to provide competent advice
under the new Regulations. The key underlying areas of
technical competence are: noise measurement, occupational
health surveillance, noise control and hearing protection.
The Institute of Acoustics offers a short competence-focused and
examined course intended to enable persons to carry out
workplace noise-risk assessments in a competent manner. It is
designed to provide a background of basic acoustics combined
with `hands on' practical experience of industrial noise
measurements and associated assessment of workplace noise
exposure. The selection of hearing protectors is covered in the
course: www.ioa.org.uk/ccwpna.asp
So what's new in the world of hearing protection?
In 1989, the EEC published the Personal Protective Equipment
Directive (89/686/EEC), setting requirements for the design and
supply of items of protection equipment such as respirators,
safety helmets, flame-resistant suits and hearing protectors. A
related directive, The Use of Personal Protective at Work
Directive (89/656/EEC), requires that PPE is used at work where
there is a risk to health and safety that is not controlled
adequately by other means.
Under the PPE Regulations, hearing protectors are classified as
mid-category products, for which type-examination by an
'Approved Body' is required for the granting of the CE mark,
enabling the product to be offered for sale within Europe as an
item of industrial PPE. Type-examination involves an assessment
against the appropriate harmonised European Standard, or other
equivalent criteria, and an examination of the technical
documentation relating to the design and manufacture of the
product.
The principal harmonised CEN standards for hearing
protectors which have been developed by CEN TC159 (UK BSI
committee PH/7) are EN 352 'Hearing Protectors: Safety
Requirements and Testing: Part 1- Earmuffs and Part 2 -
Earplugs'. Much of the core content of these standards has been
drawn from the earlier BS 6344:1984, developed by BSI
committee PH/7, and the corresponding ISO standards
developed under ISO TC94/SC12.
Further standards in this series deal with earmuffs for
attachment to safety helmets and with earmuffs or earplugs fitted
with some form of electronic or mechanical performance
enhancement, which are increasingly being used in the
workplace. An important aspect which is increasingly being
featured is the provision of noise cancellation (ANR), or level
dependent attenuation or audio inputs for warning sounds or
speech communications - or just for entertainment! In the last
option, the audio levels are strictly controlled so that they do not
generate a further noise risk. A schedule is shown below.
An associated guidance document, EN 458 (2004), gives
recommendations for the selection, use, care and maintenance of
hearing protectors.
Dr Peter Wheeler CEng HonFIOA is a past-President of the
Institute of Acoustics and is the Chairman of BSI committee
PH/7 and convenor of CEN TC159 Working Group 2 on
electronic hearing protectors.
European Standards for Hearing Protectors, CEN TC159 – BSI PH/7
| EN 352-1 | Hearing protectors - General requirements, Part 1: Ear-Muffs |
| EN 352-2 | Hearing protectors - General requirements, Part 2: Ear-plugs |
| EN 352-3 | Hearing protectors - General requirements, Part 3: Ear-muffs attached to an industrial safety helmet |
| EN 352-4 | Hearing protectors - Safety requirements and testing, Part 4: Level-dependent ear-muffs |
| EN 352-5 | Hearing protectors - Safety requirements and testing, Part 5: Active noise reduction ear-muffs |
| EN 352-6 | Hearing protectors - Safety requirements and testing, Part 6: Ear-muffs with electrical audio input |
| EN 352-7 | Hearing protectors - Safety requirements and testing, Part 7: Level-dependent earplugs |
| EN 352-8 | Hearing protectors - Safety requirements and testing, Part 8: Earmuffs with entertainment audio |
| *prEN 352-9 | Hearing protectors - Safety requirements and testing, Part 9: Earplugs with electrical audio input |
| *prEN 352-10 | Hearing protectors - Safety requirements and testing, Part 10: Earplugs with entertainment audio input |
| *prEN 352-11 | Hearing protectors - Safety requirements and testing, Part 11: Two-way communication ear muffs |
| EN 13819-1 | Hearing protectors - Testing - Part 1: Physical test methods |
| EN 13819-2 | Hearing protectors - Testing - Part 2: Acoustic test methods |
| EN 458 | Hearing protectors - Recommendations for selection, use care and maintenance - Guidance document |
* under developmentMore articles from Institute of Acoustics Ltd: | 
