Assessment of hearing loss risk due to impact noise in industrial environments

Abstract

Impact noises are often found in industrial environments and they are predominant in mining, construction, factories, workshops, and shipyards. It is well-known that impact noises are more likely to cause noise-induced hearing loss than continuous noise of equal energy. Impulse noises are characterized by their high intensity over a short period of time and many countries have defined impulse noise exposure limits and criteria in occupational settings. They are based on the sound level measurements made using standard sound pressure level meters and dosemeters. However, because of their metrological limitations, it is not appropriate to use these instruments when dealing with such high peak levels and short duration times. Extensive research on hearing damage produced by impulse noise generated by firearms has been presented, mainly on police and military personnel. These studies have led to damage risk criteria contained in various versions of the standard MIL-STD-1474. Although industrial noises can reach similar peak sound pressure levels, not many results have been published on the subject. In this work, several common sources of industrial impact noise were measured in-situ, at the worker locations, using a specialized system equipped with high-dynamic-range microphones and a very high data acquisition rate. The signals were post-processed to obtain the main metrics defined for impulse noise exposure assessment. Then, occupational hearing loss risk was estimated using different criteria. It is shown that many common industrial processes reported a very high risk of impulsive noise to human hearing.