Industrial Noise & Vibration Centre

+44 1753 698 800

Occupational Noise Control

Hierarchy of Noise Control

Under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, employers are legally required to reduce workplace noise exposure to as low as reasonably practicable. Just carrying out a risk assessment is not sufficient to meet the requirements of the regulations - noise must be controlled.

To minimise the risk of hearing to your employees and meet your regulatory duty, the hierarchy of controls must be followed:

  1. Elimination: Remove hazardous noise sources entirely. This is the most effective measure, but is not usually practical.
  2. Substitution: Implement a 'Buy Quiet' purchasing policy - i.e. when purchasing equipment, consider low noise options.
  3. Engineering: Introduce noise control measures. This should prioritise tackling noise at source through engineering means.
  4. Administrative Controls: Change working methods to reduce the time exposed to hazardous noise.
  5. PPE: Provide a selection of hearing protection to those who continue to be at risk. Hearing protection is the least effective control measure and should only be used as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted.

Our Approach

Our mindset when we look at workplace noise is to determine the most practical and effective way to reduce noise risk within the workplace. A typical occupational noise control project would involve:

Noise Control Audit: This is an initial site visit which allows us to identify, rank and diagnose noise sources onsite. We will then be able to determine the available noise reduction options using Best Available Technique (BAT). The audit can be undertaken on it's own, but is often conducted in conjunction with a workplace noise assessment.
Remote Noise Control Audit: In many instances we're able to conduct the remotely for sites around the world without attending site. This involves undertaking detailed analysis of smartphone videos, photos and information provided by site personnel.
Noise Control Solutions: Once the audit is complete, the next stage involves us providing detailed recommendations for the selected equipment to tackle noise in the most effective way practical.
Noise Control Implementation: Our designs and recommendations are developed such that any competent contractor of your choosing can implement the noise control measures. We can liaise with the contractor to ensure the measures are implemented correctly.
Performance Testing: Once the noise control has been fitted, we can repeat the site visit to assess the noise reduction achieved. We can also do this remotely using smartphone recordings or noise measurement data.

By accurately diagnosing the cause of the noise first, it is often possible to reduce the risk of noise induced hearing loss by 50 - 90% using source engineering techniques. These techniques can usually be implemented at substantially lower cost than traditional noise control methods.

Keep current with occupational noise

Subscribe for the latest in techniques and best practice

Interested in reducing noise in your workplace?

Industrial Noise & Vibration Centre Ltd
invc-logo