HSE Press Release E212:02 - 7 November 2002
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today published results of research into how employers can encourage workers exposed to loud noise to wear hearing protection.
The research, conducted by the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh, concluded that there are many simple and practical measures that companies can take to improve the use of hearing protection and the attitudes of workers towards it. These are not novel actions, but simply what an enthusiastic safety professional/manager would recommend in the course of his or her work, adhering to the principles of good training practice and participative, active learning models.
The research recommendations over 30 actions in areas such as:
The research is timely because under new European legislation, which will have to be transposed into UK law by the end of 2005, employers will have to make every effort to ensure that hearing protection is worn when exposure reaches 85 dB(A). Under existing law, hearing protection has to be worn only where exposure reaches 90 dB(A). As part of implementing the Physical Agents (Noise) Directive, HSE will revise its guidance to employers, incorporating the findings of the research.
Andie Michael, HSE's noise policy adviser, said:
"It is important that all workers exposed to hazardous noise levels wear appropriate hearing protection. Employers are required to provide it, and employees to wear it. This research gives us some recommendations on encouraging the use of hearing protection that have been shown to work and that we can incorporate into the new guidance. Most of the recommendations are based on common sense and should not be too onerous. They will help employers get it right first time, not only saving their employees' hearing, but saving time and money in the longer term."
1. The Noise at Work Regulations 1989 set out measures to reduce and control noise levels at work to cut the risk of damage to employees' hearing. The regulations have two action levels related to daily personal exposure averaged over an eight-hour day - 85dB(A) is the first action level and 90dB(A) is the second. There is also a peak action level of 200 pascals.
2. Where employees are exposed between the first and second action level, employers have to provide protectors to employees who ask for them. Above the second or peak action levels employers have to provide hearing protectors, and workers are required to wear them.
3. Agreement was recently reached on a new EU Noise Directive that lowers the action levels to 80 and 85dB(A) and introduces an exposure limit value of 87dB(A), above which exposure (taking hearing protection into account) will be prohibited. Corresponding peak values are 112, 140 and 200 Pascals.
4. The Directive is expected to come into force by the end of this year and all member states, including the UK, will then have three years to implement it in their own legislation (i.e. by late 2005). The HSE will be producing new guidance to accompany this new legislation.
5. Under the new Directive, employers will have to make hearing protection available when noise exposure exceeds 80 dB(A), and will have to make every effort to ensure that it is worn when exposure reaches 85 dB(A).
"Behavioural studies of people's attitudes to wearing hearing protection and how these might be changed" Research Report 028 is available on HSE's website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/
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