Whether it is causing discomfort for tasks requiring a certain concentration or likely to expose workers to a risk of auditory trauma, noise at work must be fought, especially in industrial establishments and spaces considered as offices.

Noise at work

noise at work
must be fought

   

Why should employees be protected from noise at work ?

Daily noise exposure levels exceeding 80 dB (A) and / or a peak sound pressure level above 135 dB (C) are above the action limit at meaning of the Decree nbr 2006-892 of July 19, 2006 relating to the safety and health prescriptions applicable in the event of exposure of the workers to the risks due to the noise and modifying the work code which transposes into French law the directive 2003/10/CE.

In practice, the actions to consider are as follows:

  • Provision of Personal Protections Against Noise (PPAG)
  • information & training of workers (on the risks related to noise, on measures & means of collective & individual prevention, on the use of PPAG, etc.)
  • proposed audiometric preventive examinations

In the case of daily noise exposure levels above 85 dB (A) and / or a peak sound pressure level above 137 dB (C), the actions to be considered are as follows:

  • implementation of a program of technical measures to reduce noise exposure
  • signaling noisy workplaces & limiting access
  • use of PPAG
  • periodic audiometric examinations (enhanced medical supervision)

A daily noise exposure level above 87 dB (A) and / or a peak sound pressure level above 140 dB (C), (taking into account the attenuation of the PPAG) are not to exceed in any case; Immediate noise reduction measures are mandatory.

In addition to regulatory constraints, normative texts (general or specific, e.g. dealing with offices, including open spaces and associated spaces) can be taken into account for the analysis of a noise situation at work, from which it emerges different usual limits, typically:

  • at industrial workplaces 75 dB to 80 dB
  • for office work 45 dB at 55 dB
  • for meeting rooms or tasks involving a certain concentration 35 dB to 45 dB

How can employees be protected from noise at work ?

The fight against noise in the workplace often requires enclosures to reduce at the source the sound emissions of machines and production lines (soundproof enclosures and soundproofing carterizations), screens to limit the spread of noise to workstations close to a source noise, when there is no need to implement an acoustic correction of the room (to limit the amplification of sound levels due to reverberation phenomena by the implementation of absorbing materials) or to install silencers or other soundproofing devices .

Employees should and can be protected from noise at work: ITS can accompany you for all your projects related to soundproofing, in workshops or in offices.