Noise may also be a safety hazard. It interferes with talking and hearing on the job. Difficulties with communication can cause accidents in the workplace. Prolonged intense noise causes fatigue which may also lead to accidents. You don't need complicated equipment to tell if you are exposed to noise levels that could damage your hearing.
Sound level is measured with a sound level meter and is expressed in terms of decibels.
The decibel, abbreviated dBA, is the unit of measurement used to measure noise. It is important to understand that the decibel scale is not an arithmetic scale. Rather, it is a logarithmic scale. The exchange rate is the decibel level that equals a doubling of energy and is also called a doubling rate. This means that an increase of 3 dBA is equal to doubling the sound pressure.