Towards a revised international standard for personal sound exposure meters

Abstract

Personal sound exposure meters and personal noise dosimeters are designed to be worn on a person and to measure sound exposure or sound exposure as a percentage of a predetermined criterion. Different jurisdictions employ different definitions of these quantities and different criteria for exposure. Existing normative standards for these instruments therefore differ in their specifications and are outdated due to changes in markets and technologies since their publication. The International Electrotechnical Commission is revising the applicable international standard (IEC 61252) to modernise and harmonise requirements for the instruments. The technical aims of the revision are to provide realistic specifications, methods for testing all relevant characteristics of a model of personal sound exposure meter, and methods for periodic testing of individual instruments. Specifications need to reflect the actual practice of measurements of noise exposure worldwide and test methods need to be consistent, realistic, and affordable. The needs of various users have been surveyed and used to prepare substantial technical changes to the specifications in the document. Experience with the equivalent international standard for sound level meters (IEC 61672) has been reviewed to draft new test methods that are appropriate for personal sound exposure meters.