Noise and How Much Can We Take?
By: Jeff
Brown, Safety Specialist
As we all can tell, today’s world is getting louder and louder
all the time. We are exposed to a variety of sounds in a day, both wanted and
unwanted. In the safety community we usually consider noise to be “unwanted”
sound. Depending on your work environment, you may already have some training
on the noise levels you
can be exposed to without causing harm.
|
Duration per day,
hours |
Sound level dBa slow
response |
|
8 |
90 |
|
6 |
92 |
|
4 |
95 |
|
3 |
97 |
|
2 |
100 |
|
1 ½ |
102 |
|
1 |
105 |
|
½ |
110 |
|
¼ or less |
115 |
The Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set guidelines for the exposures we
can be in for a working environment. These exposure levels are set to prevent
workers from having permanent hearing loss. Along with this, there are
guidelines for measuring the sound (in decibels; dB), what type of personal
protective equipment we should use, and how to record how the noise is affecting
your hearing. At 90 dB you start to reach a level that can impact your hearing
negatively if exposed to it for too long. This is all great information, but
can you tell what the noise level (dB) is around you? The answer is probably
No.
The National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has done some of the
research for us. There are certain types of sounds we are around both at home
and work that have a decibel level with a calculated average. An example of
this is normal conversation between people is around 60dB. Lawnmowers are a
surprising 90dB in normal working conditions. For those of you out there that
use hand tools, did you know that a power drill can be around 98dB? Now for the
big stuff, a bulldozer has a decibel reading over 100. These are just a few
examples of the everyday things and the levels that can be produced. It is not
that difficult to rise into a decibel range that would need to have some hearing
protection. It is always better to be safe than sorry, if your not sure of the
decibel levels you are exposed to it may sound advise to check it out.
If you
would like to see the decibel levels of more equipment, they can be referenced
on the NIOSH website:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/abouthlp/noisemeter_flash/soundMeter_flash.html