Italian English Menu Company Products Materials Health at work References Contacts The impact of noise in the workplace Exposure to noise in the workplace can have harmful effects on the health of operators: it causes more or less serious pathologies that go as far as hearing loss; however, noise can also contribute to exacerbating stress and increasing the risk of injury . For these reasons it is desirable to prevent dangerous situations by installing and maintaining efficient, in the workplace, systems designed to eliminate or reduce the effects of potentially harmful sounds. Loss of hearing. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL)it is the most common occupational disease in Europe and is usually caused by prolonged exposure to intense noise; at the beginning it generally manifests itself with the inability to perceive higher pitch sounds. But even a brief exposure to impulsive noises (eg firearms or riveters, nailers ...) can induce permanent harmful effects (hearing loss, continuous ear ringing). The impulses can also damage the eardrum membrane. The damage caused by noise-induced hearing loss is permanent. Auricular tinnitus. Tinnitus is the auditory perception of ringing, hissing or rumbling and the risk of incurring it is increased by excessive exposure to noise. If the latter is impulsive (such as, for example, explosions) the risk increases substantially. Tinnitus can be the first sign of an injury to the hearing system caused by noise. Increased risk of accidents. The link between noise and accidents is recognized by the legal system (see below) which requires that it be specifically taken into account when assessing the risk associated with noise. Noise can be the cause of injuries because: makes words and acoustic signals less audible and understandable; it can cover the sound of approaching vehicles or warning signals; distracts workers, for example drivers; it contributes to raising stress at work, which in turn increases the cognitive load and, consequently, the likelihood of errors. Verbal communication disorder. Effective communication is essential in the workplace: for it to take place, the level of speech perceived by the ear must be at least 10 dB higher than that of the surrounding noise. In the workplace, verbal communication limited by the intensity of surrounding noises can (for example): forcing the operators to raise their voices, giving rise to problems affecting the speech apparatus; lead drivers and operators of mobile plants on construction sites to misinterpret verbal instructions, in some cases causing accidents. Stress. Noise in the workplace, even when it reaches levels that require interventions to prevent hearing loss, can be a cause of stress (for example, due to frequent phone calls or the persistent hum of a machine). How noise affects workers' perceived stress levels depends on a number of factors including: the nature of the noise (volume, pitch, predictability); the complexity of the ongoing operation (for example, other people talking nearby when the ongoing action requires extreme concentration); the psycho-physical conditions of the worker himself (noise levels that can contribute to stress in specific situations, especially when the person is tired, in other cases they can be harmless). Legislation. The minimum health and safety requirements relating to the exposure of workers to the risks deriving from physical agents (noise) are governed by Directive 2003/10 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, implemented in each country in 2006. According to the text of the measure, taking into account technical progress and the availability of measures to control the risk at source, "The risks deriving from exposure to noise must be eliminated at source or minimized" . The directive also defines the new daily exposure limit value: 87 dB . The risk from vibrations Among the various potential causes of illnesses, disorders and disabilities in the workplace, vibrations tend to be underestimated by the operators themselves, since they do not produce an immediate impairment, but manifest their effects on health only after several years and with different intensity from subject to subject. According to a study by Ispesl, the risk from vibrations actually determines 4-5% of occupational diseases compensated by Inail. The control phases. The person responsible for carrying out the checks on the extent of the vibrations is the employer. The standard distinguishes two phases for the control activity carried out on the entity of the level of exposure of workers. First phase: mandatory, it requires the preliminary identification of the degree of risk. A distinction is made between vibrations transmitted to the hand-arm system and those transmitted to the whole body , with exposure and action limit values over a daily reference period of eight hours: hand / arm - the limit value is 5 m / s2; the action value is 2.5 m / s2; whole body - the limit value is 1.15 m / s2; the action value is 0.5 m / s2. Second phase: if necessary, if the results of the first evaluation require it. It consists in the obligation, for the employer, to prepare the minimum measures for the reduction of the technical-organizational risk for workers exposed to vibrations higher than the action values (competent doctor and periodic verification visits). Hand / Arm Vibration Syndrome. In all fields of work activities, about 5% of operators, using vibrating machinery or hand tools, are regularly exposed to vibrations of the hand-arm system. The pathology, called Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome, manifests itself with vascular, neurological and musculoskeletal lesions. The first symptoms may appear only after a few months or years, depending on the subject and on the amplitude of the vibrations applied to the hand. division of ECOSTIL group srl - 36055 Nove (Vicenza) Italy - Via dell'Olmo, 20 - Tel. +39 0424 219 622 - Fax +39 0424 219 605 - VAT number 03040140240 | info@ecosilent.it | © Ecosilent | Credits | Privacy policy