New levels of safety
April 1st 2006 Risk assessment and control mechanisms are key to the new noise at work directive, as Tim Turney of Casella CEL explains
Have you noticed changes in your workplace yet? Regulations to protect employees from excessive noise within the workplace have been in place for the UK since 1989. The EU Physical Agents (Noise) Directive was published on 15 February 2003 and has been adopted - the new Control of Noise at Work Regulations came into force on the 6th of April 2006.
The regulations have been changed to ensure all workers are protected against hearing damage. Approximately 14% of the working population are susceptible to hearing damage under the action levels of the 1989 regulations.
Therefore the action levels have been reduced by 5dB and new peak action levels introduced. The new Lower Exposure Action Value (LEAV) is 80dB for a daily dose (LAEP,d) and 135dB (LCpeak) for impulsive noises, such as pressing operations. The Upper Exposure Action Value (UEAV) changes to 85dB for a daily dose (LAEP,d) and 137dB for impulsive noises (LCpeak). The reduction of 5dB does not sound significant, however it means that an additional 1.1 million people in the UK currently exposed to between 80 and 85dB now need to be protected from noise risk.
The regulations also introduce a new concept called the 'Exposure Limit Value' of 87dB LAEP,d and 140dB LCpeak. This is the maximum permitted noise level at the ear taking account of hearing protection. It may be an issue for individuals exposed to particularly high levels of noise, however it should not be seen as a minimum acceptable level, rather to highlight where action needs to be taken as a priority to reduce noise exposure. If this is the case it will be necessary to calculate the effectiveness of hearing protection by taking measurements.
Assessments and Controls
A new emphasis with the latest regulations is on the fact that noise risk must be assessed and suitable controls implemented. It will be much more important under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 to control the risk of noise exposure. It will no longer be acceptable to provide hearing protection without performing any noise exposure reduction measures. Firstly, a risk assessment will need to be conducted to assess the risk to health and safety from the noise.
The results will enable a program of work to be established which will isolate the actions required to reduce the noise risk. The risk assessment itself can be straightforward and taken in three simple steps: - Are people exposed to noise?
- Do I have machines, tools and processes that are obviously noisy?
- Are control measures in place?
A measurement will only be required for a risk assessment if the levels are likely to exceed 85dB. Many employers, however, will want to take measurements for the purposes of being thorough and to ensure accurate records of the noise exposure are kept, regardless of the exposure level. Once the risk is assessed, controls will need to be implemented, where necessary, to reduce noise as low as practicably possible. Examples of controls include: - Change work patterns/rotas to reduce exposure
- Perform technical measures (dampening, enclosures and so on)
- Train employees for correct use of equipment to reduce noise risk
- Maintenance of machinery
- Change the design of work areas
- Purchase quiet machinery as a company policy ('buy quiet')
In an ideal world, the noise exposure of all employees will be reduced to below the LEAV. However, this will not be possible in many cases because the balance of costs to benefits for the above control measures will not be feasible. Hence, for employees with any residual risk from noise, hearing protection should be provided.
Hearing Checks To Ensure Control Measures Work
Health surveillance will need to be established with hearing checks for any employees over the UEAV and any susceptible employees below that.
Although this may seem costly it is considered essential to ensure that the control measures are working. If effective control measures are introduced the number of employees requiring hearing protection will be reduced.
Expert Intermediaries
The term 'competent person' is not mentioned in the new regulations. Instead, an employer can perform aspects of noise at work for which they are able. For any elements that they are unsure of they should rely on external expert help, otherwise called 'expert intermediaries' by the Health & Safety Executive.
Casella will be exhibiting at Safety & Health Expo, Stand C63
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Tim Turney is product manager - noise instrumentation - of Casella CEL. The company manufactures and supplies industrial hygiene, occupational health and environmental monitoring instrumentation to industry, commerce and governments worldwide.
Products include realtime dust and noise monitors, indoor air quality monitors, meteorological equipment and environmental enclosures. More articles from Casella Measurement Ltd: | 
