The World Health Organisation (WHO) has introduced new noise pollution guidelines to help protect people from harmful exposure to noise. The new guidelines came into effect on 10th October 2018. The guidelines recommend the maximum amounts of exposure people should have to certain levels of decibels.
Excessive noise exposure has been identified as a health risk – contributing to a range of illnesses, from effects on sleep right through to cardiovascular diseases. The World Health Organisation’s guidelines cover a range of different types of noise exposure but the clear implication is that measures need to be taken to protect people from over exposure to avoid noise related health issues.
Sticking to the maximum recommended exposure levels for the type of noise exposure should mean that people do not suffer adverse health effects, such as hearing impairment, the guidelines suggest.
The WHO has urged policy makers to take these guidelines on board to ensure that exposure levels are monitored and maintained.
Noise exposure control and environmental noise assessments are also critical and potentially costly for businesses, whereby failure to keep within the guidelines could lead to long-term health related issues for employees. This could not only lead to long term absence but also potential claims against the business, if it was proven to be negligent in the protection of its employees.
In keeping with the law, environmental noise assessments must be undertaken to monitor the potential adverse effects that noise exposure is having on employees.
Businesses may be required to carry out an assessment for various reasons, including regulatory compliance, Environmental Impact Assessments, applications for planning and EPR permits or as a response to statutory nuisance complaints from external sources.
Safety First hygienists have the depth and breadth of experience in measuring and analysing environmental noise across a wide-range of sectors, including industrial, construction, road traffic, and entertainment. We propose recommendations in our detailed reports, which we aim to deliver to clients within 25 working days.
Has your business undertaken the necessary assessments for environmental noise?
To learn more about this, please visit https://www.safetyfirstgroup.co.uk/services/environmental-noise-assessment/ or for more information, please call 0845 004 2133 or email enquiries@safetyfirstgroup.co.uk.
