Individual Noise Dosimetry

Abstract

For the last 2 years individual noise dose meters have been used to measure the noise exposure in the shipbuilding industry. Different manufacturers have presented dose meters for individual use. However, they do not integrate the sound pressure with the same halving factor, which can lead to an underrating of the noise compared with the ISO standard. The equivalent level measured by the dose meter gives no information about how the possible noise fluctuations have been divided during the working hours, frequency contents, numbers of noise peaks, etc., but gives the noise exposure of the carrier in dB(A). This value will be useful for judging the hazard to hearing loss. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the design of the instrument, to give results from the practical measurements and to indicate sources of errors and limitations. In spite of some initial difficulties, individual dosimetry has introduced correct thinking into noise measurement, by giving each person a ≪noise zone≫ of his own.