Measuring noise in your company: how does that work?

Mensura Health and Safety Officer Davy Vanspauwen and his team conduct dozens of these measurements each year, primarily in industry and construction, though also in schools and day-care centres, care facilities, institutional kitchens and office environments.

The requests originate from employers, health and safety officers, occupational physicians and others, mostly based on risk analyses, but also in relation to a specific factor, such as a visit by the Labour Inspectorate, a different type of measurement (such as dust particles) or a work-related accident.

Davy Vanspauwen explains how this type of measurement is usually done: “We start by mapping the various sources of noise in your work environment. We then carry out stationary measurements at a number of strategic points. This is done using a sound meter on a tripod. Apart from volume, the meter also picks up the type of sound, whether it’s cyclical, continuous or sporadic, and so on. The result is a noise map. Colour coding in the heat map shows the employer where hearing protection is recommended or required.”

The noise map is a handy tool for internal health and safety officers, but is not enough in itself. Davy explains, “The heat map shows the sounds produced in the work environment, but not the degree to which every individual employee is exposed to those sounds.”

To obtain an overview of this, a dosimeter is used. Davy continues, “We place this measurement tool close to the employee’s ear in order to monitor exposure to noise during an entire workday or shift. This analysis makes it possible for organisations to determine where hearing protection is needed on the individual, position or team level.”

Of course, not only do high decibels pose a risk on the production floor, but sounds that are not directly harmful to hearing can also be unpleasant and cause stress. For example, the humming sound of an air conditioning unit, the clattering of plates and cutlery in the dining area, colleagues talking on the phone, annoying background noises from adjacent rooms, and so on.

In other words, there are plenty of benefits to be had by measuring noise in non-industrial work environments. Davy adds, “Acoustic insulation or other soundproofing materials can often work wonders for employee well-being. An acoustic measurement lets us identify problems in the infrastructure.”

Noise measurements make it possible to determine the types of hearing protection that is recommend or required and when. All the same, earplugs or earmuffs should be considered as a last resort. Most important is to reduce exposure to harmful or stressful sounds.

Placing or shielding machines in closed rooms, for example, or replacing old ones with new ones, can be helpful. Another option is to have employees rotate positions during the workday or shift in order to prevent them from having to spend hours on end working in a high-decibel or uncomfortably noisy area.