How Should A Noise Test Be Done

[BigRooster]

Where I work we use a company to do are H&S checks there coming to do a noise check in the department I’m not convinced It will be done correctly can anyone tell me the correct procedure for checking noise level

[Davemano]

Pardon.

[douglas9401]

Measure it and report the findings I suppose.

What has made you suspicious of foul deeds afoot?

[Sqad]

Some guy/gal will enter the area with a hand held piece of equipment which will automatically determine the sound level.....no big deal.

[tonyav]

BigRooster, I take it that the company that you work for provide hearing protection ?

[EDDIE51]

They will use a machine that measures noise level in Decibels !
Decibels are not easy to explain. But a 'very quiet room' is around 60 decibels ! The scale is Logrithmic so 100 db is 'very noisy' , and 120 db is so loud it can cause permanent total deafness !

[EDDIE51]

If your workplace has noise of 100 db or more , it is COMPULSORY for the employer to provide free hearing protection!

[BigRooster]

It can’t be that easy to walk in a room hold a meter and that’s ok through out an 8 hour day levels could be high or low .
Personally I think walking into a room for 10mins or 1hour would not give a detailed story of sound levels there must be a procedure yo cover this

[Buenchico]

A sound level meter (which Eddie refers to) is an effective tool in determining whether or not further analysis is required. If it is, the survey should either use noise dosimeters (worn by employees who might be at risk from excessive noise) or one or more integrated sound level meters:
https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_agents/noise_measurement.html
(That's a Canadian link but the laws of physics are universal).

The noise levels which should trigger actions from UK employers are shown within this guidance document:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg362.pdf

[BigRooster]

Thanks for the links

[Maydup]

If the noise levels vary, they should leave noise monitoring equipment in the area for a week or two and analyse the results over time. We had an accoustic report done at our works and thats how it worked for us. The results showed how often and for how long noise was above an acceptable level, along with averages and general background noises too.

All very scientific and professional.

[Maydup]

There are many companies who carry out these tests, but here is an example of one. Theres is a user friendly website which might help you ask the right questions at work about how the process.

[Maydup]

https://www.acoustic-ltd.co.uk/services/noise-monitoring/