Anybody that works in noisy industries is at risk of hearing damage. These properties can be incredibly loud because of their construction and the specific operations. With more knowledge of the impact on employees and their quality of life, regulations are tighter than ever. As a result, industrial noise reduction is a key topic. Businesses need to look at their obligations to their staff, risks, and measures to reduce noise.
Before rushing in though, there is a lot to think about. Most importantly, keep in mind that doing the wrong things, even with the aim to make things quieter, can make the problem worse. Additionally, simply giving employees hearing protection and calling it job done is not enough.
Identifying when you have a noise problem
The ideal starting point is to ensure you know how to identify when noise is a problem. You may not consider it to be too noisy in an area for you, but from a legal standpoint it could be excessively loud, especially if you expect people to work in the area for hours at a time.
There are a few key things that indicate you do need to think about industrial noise reduction. The most common ones include if:
- Noise is intrusive or worse for the majority of the work day
- It is too noisy for employees to have a face to face conversation at normal volume for parts of the day
- Employees are using loud tools or equipment for over 30 minutes
Some industries are already known to have potential noise issues. So, if you are a business working in things like construction, woodwork, engineering, manufacturing, waste and recycling, canning or bottling, or fabrication, you likely need to look at reduction.
It’s also easy to identify a problem if industrial operations involve the use of anything that generates a lot of noise. For example, any kind of explosive use will be loud. Plus, tools for hammering, drop forging, and other types of impact are noisy. Industrial noise reduction will probably be necessary.
Easy tests
Generally the best way to identify if workplace noise is excessive is to test it. Using noise meters is one of the easiest ways to do it. The recommendation here is to get employees to wear them to get an idea of their exposure to noise throughout a typical working day.
There are also a couple of tests you can do without needing to invest in equipment. One of the easiest is to see if you can hear warning signals like alarms. If the ambient noise makes it hard to hear them, you have a problem. Similarly, you can try to have conversations with all of the background noise. If you can’t hear and need to shout, you need to improve things.
Speak to us about industrial noise reduction
Another tricky thing when it comes to industrial noise is that it’s very difficult to predict. This can make it hard to address it when designing a facility. Beyond that, the actual sound level can differ greatly in practice. This happens commonly because businesses use tools and equipment beyond the manufacturer’s guidelines.
It can be incredibly helpful to work with an expert to tackle noise. Ventx is one of the leaders in the UK. We specialise in designing and manufacturing different types of silencers and attenuators. They can be some of the most effective tools for industrial noise reduction. Combining them with other things like enclosures and dampeners can provide incredible results.
So, if you need any help, speak to us. Crucially, we can even use our acoustic modelling equipment to identify if you do actually have a problem.
