Noise and Vibration Database on Handheld Tools

Abstract

Abstract One of the main results from a project to develop best practices of interventions aimed to reduce noise-induced injuries in the Norwegian petroleum industry is a unique, publicly available, database for noise and vibrations from handheld tools. This database also includes one simple and one advanced calculator for noise and vibration exposure. The database contains today field measurements of noise and vibrations from around 300 handheld tools and vendor data from more than 200 handheld tools. The data are sorted in activities related types of tools, for instance "sand blasting" and "grinding". These again are put together in groups of processes; the two previous activities belong to the process "Surface cleaning". Statistical calculations make it possible to present the average value and the uncertainty for each collection of data. A high uncertainty may be the result when the noise varies a lot for different ways of handling the tool. The data in the database is useful in finding the best activity type for a certain process with respect to noise and vibration. It may also be used to find specific tools with low noise and low vibration levels. Thereby it may be possible to change one chosen activity by "substitution" with a less noisy one or find the best specific tool within the same group. The calculators picks data from the field measurements in the database or you may use you own data. A simple calculator helps you to calculate the maximum allowed working time with a chosen type of activity or tool. With the advanced calculator, you can find the noise and vibration exposure for a combination of activities, and you can add contribution from the general noise level in the area. The database with the calculators provides much more detailed evaluations than the normally used diagram methods. In most situations, this enables more effective worktime during the day. Taking into account the real uncertainty for each situation ensures a high degree of safety against overexposure. Therefore, the database contributes to better use of resources as well as better safety against noise-induced injuries. The main project was carried out in 2012-2014 in cooperation between the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (on behalf of the operators on the Norwegian continental shelf), the Federation of Norwegian Industries and the major unions in the Norwegian petroleum industry, organized as a tri-partite effort. The project provided helpful tools concerning area noise, helicopter noise, noise barriers, hearing protection and knowledge about reasons for hearing damages including improved systems for audiology monitoring, and the database presented in this paper.