Machinery Noise: The Users’ Viewpoint

Summary

The Department of Employment Code of Practice for reducing the exposure of employed persons to noise seeks to place certain obligations upon both employer and employees when the equivalent continuous noise level exceeds 90 dB(A). The management is required to “accept a general responsibility for ensuring that the best practical means for noise reduction are applied”, and this will apply to both existing and new machinery. This paper outlines the procedures and standards instituted in 1971 by a large company using a wide variety of machine tools and shows how the 83 dB(A) limit for new machines was derived from the overall limit of 90 dB(A).