Keep It Down

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If you and your co-workers have to raise your voices in order to hear one another, your workplace might have a noise problem. And if after a shift you hear ringing in your ears and have to increase the volume on your car radio, these, too, are good indications that you're exposed to excessive noise.

One of the most common occupational health hazards, noise is the bane of workers in heavy industrial and manufacturing environments, in cafeterias, call centres and a host of other industries. While noise may not cut, burn, bruise or strain our bodies as other types of hazards can, it can cause another form of physical injury, including hearing loss which may become permanent if left unchecked.

The degree of injury depends on how loud the noise is, how long a worker is exposed to it, how high or low the sound frequency is and the type of noise. Besides posing a risk of hearing loss, noise - even at low levels - also causes annoyance and interferes with our ability to speak, listen, and communicate warnings of safety hazards to one another. It can affect the cardiovascular system, resulting in the release of adrenaline that is associated with stress and an increase in blood pressure. Excessive noise can be harmful to pregnant women, and it can even interact with dangerous chemical substances, increasing their harmful effects on our health.

How to stop the din

At a food processing company in France, the noise of jars hitting one another while moving along a conveyor was unbearable to workers. The employer solved the problem by enclosing the conveyor and adjusting the speed of the conveyor. After that, the workers didn't even need to wear ear protectors!

Reducing noise to acceptable levels, through engineering modifications to the noise itself or to the work environment, is the most effective way to control exposure. Where technology cannot adequately control the problem, personal hearing protection such as earmuffs or plugs may be used - but only as an interim measure while other ways to control the noise are being explored and implemented.

Excessive noise is a growing concern. The European Agency recently launched "Stop that noise!", Europe's biggest ever noise awareness campaign. It will run for six months and is aimed at the workplace, safety and health institutions, trade unions, associations, companies, managers, and employees in the EA member states, who are all invited to organise their own activities and participate in a competition for good work practices.

 Visit CCOHS for further information on how to control noise in your work environment.