Noise assessments are essential for many businesses. After all, our economy relies heavily on construction and manufacturing, just two industries that require regular sound analysis. So, what can a consultant do for your business?
First, they will check for any hazardous sound sources. They will then determine whether that source is providing a level of exposure that exceeds action values. If your consultant finds that, yes, the source is exceeding that level, they will provide a strategy on how to safely reduce this hazard.
Many businesses are susceptible to extreme noise on a daily basis. Unfortunately, many of these hazards go unnoticed, which often leads to damaged hearing among employees who experienced sustained exposure to the hazard.
Therefore, enlisting reputable noise assessment consultants is imperative to your workplace’s safety.
Here are a few added reasons why you simply must call in the experts if you think your business is at risk:
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1. Protect your staff
The most obvious reason for enlisting the experts is that you are protecting your staff from such hazards. A thorough analysis allows you to identify any hazardous sources which can then be remedied. The last thing you want is your team being exposed to prolonged excess sound. It can cause both temporary and permanent hearing loss.
Furthermore, it can lead to other sound-induced problems like acoustic shock and tinnitus. Therefore, it is essential that any businesses undergo the correct analysis and controls if sound is exceeding that of action value 80 dB (A).
2. Protect your business
It is your business’s obligation to protect staff from prolonged exposure to excessive sound levels. Therefore, by enlisting professionals to undertake a thorough analysis, you will be protecting your business from a negative image. This negative image, of course, is of one that doesn’t look after the health of its staff. If the consultant finds that there are sounds that exceed the required level then you will have to carry out measures to reduce such hazards.
This is done through considering your site’s design and floor plan, measures done through acoustic noise screening, isolation, machinery design and sound absorption.
3. It improves communication
A loud workplace is one that makes communication incredibly difficult. Unfortunately, loud workplaces are often those that contain a range of health hazards given the nature of the work. For example, a factory that experiences excessive sound levels may also contain driver-operated machinery that could be hard to hear coming if other machinery is too loud.
Therefore, reducing sound levels in your workplace allows for far safer communication as a whole. Your team will be able to easily communicate work matters as well as any other potential hazards that may occur on the workplace floor!
4. Improved mental wellbeing
Staff that are continuously exposed to excessive sound are also placed under a lot of stress. It is not just their hearing at risk, as excessive sound levels can be quite mentally overwhelming for even the toughest of floor workers. Therefore, reducing excessive sound creates a calmer environment for team members and a much happier place to work.
5. Increased productivity
When team members can easily communicate with each other they can work much better, too. After all, it is far easier to convey messages regarding particular jobs when they can actually get their point across without yelling. This makes for a much happier workplace and one where staff are able to work at optimal efficiency.
So, be sure that you don’t overlook this imperative process – reducing these hazards can be beneficial for so many reasons!