Best practice in occupational noise risk management and control

Current Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) practices have not worked as evidenced by the continuing worldwide tsunami of hearing damage claims. These technical notes represent best practice updates to current procedures that you can use to cut the risks plus links to noise control guides for common noise sources.

Hearing loss risk reduction

Noise control take-away options

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Noise risk reduction has failed: it's time to change - Nil NIHL

Massive (£400 million pa), unsustainable hearing damage claims demonstrate that current PPE-dominated noise risk reduction programmes have not worked. Period. Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is a preventable plague that has not been prevented. It's time to learn why. It's time to stop people from suffering unnecessary hearing damage by changing the way risk is managed.

This is how you can move towards Nil NIHL in virtually any organisation, from industrial to entertainment, by reducing risk by 75%-90% whilst simultaneously cutting costs. Does that sound like a plan? 10min BOHS 2022 video>

The Plan - making noise risk management effective

Noise assessments and reports: don't repeat placebo assessments indicating, yet again, that you still have a noise problem. You already knew that, and, according to HSE, most noise assessments are not fit for purpose. Invest resources in risk reduction, such as a Noise Control Audit (cost/benefit analysis) instead. Invest in a high quality template report for use in the future, either in-house or by consultants.
PPE performance: if you know the real-world limitations you can implement simple measures to double or treble protector performance. The manufacturers’ assumed protection data is irrelevant in most circumstances. If you need 10dB attenuation or more, then this is very difficult to achieve in practice. Most people, including consultant report writers, don't seem to know this. The latest intelligent PPE can also help.
Noise control: most companies can reduce hearing damage risk by 50%-90% at negligible (or even a negative - i.e. at a profit) cost by sourcing best practice engineering noise control measures from online resources. There are very simple but effective noise control measures for the most common sources.
Health surveillance: conventional audiometry is a checkbox exercise providing too little information too late to be of use in risk management. It doesn’t have to be…

You can get up-to-date with best practice via our online Noise Competency Update Workshop.

HSE - standard PPE is an unreliable risk reduction option

HSE research (report RR720) proved that hearing protection is very often ineffective. The assumption that PPE is a reliable “solution” to hearing damage risk problems is simply untrue. This assumption has left many personnel at risk and companies open to claims if their hearing conservation policy was based on issuing PPE to affected personnel. There is a solution. Hearing risk management programmes can be updated to reduce risk dramatically at negligible or no cost - or even at a profit as the revised best practice will often cost less than current expenditure.

How to update your noise risk management programme to Nil NIHL >

Digital Noise Assessment (DNA) – automate noise reporting

The Digital Noise Assessment (DNA) provides benchmark report templates covering all the requirements of the noise regulations – including the plan of action. Used either in-house or by consultants as standard format for all updates, it makes noise data easily accessible so that you can find and use the information fast. It features:-

DNA report “best practice” template: either as cut-and-paste from the customisable template Word document or as a bespoke organisation-specific report format
Action Plan summary: editable managers’ action plan summary to track implementation of risk management
Technical Notes: up-to-date technical notes on regulations, PPE, dose calculations, health surveillance, Buy Quiet, noise control, training
Example Report: completed pdf report example including factory plan noise levels
Noise Control Audit: if you don’t have the technical background for this mandatory regulatory requirement to make a cost / benefit analysis of the noise control options, we can provide this as an add-on service. Contact us to discuss.

The template report documentation is also available to delegates on our certificate of competence in workplace noise risk assessment and management public courses.