Controlling noise at work

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 Guidance on Regulations Many people are exposed to noise levels at work that may be harmful, leading to permanent and incurable hearing damage. This third edition of L108 is aimed at employers and other dutyholders and includes the Control of Noise at Work Regulations alongside guidance on what they mean, setting out an employer’s legal obligations to control risks to workers’ health and safety from noise. It also gives detailed advice on assessing risks, practical noise control, how to select and use hearing protection, what to consider when buying and hiring equipment and how to develop health surveillance procedures.

L108 (Third edition) Published 2021

London: TSO

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© Crown copyright 2021 First published 1998 Second edition 2005 Third edition 2021

ISBN 978 0 7176 6567 9

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This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the guidance is not compulsory, unless specifically stated, and you are free to take other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing enough to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance.

CONTENTS

Introduction 4 Part 1: Legal duties of employers concerning noise at work 6 Regulation 1 Citation and commencement 6 Regulation 2 Interpretation 6 Regulation 3 Application 7 Regulation 4 Exposure limit values and action values 9 Regulation 5 Assessment of the risk to health and safety created by exposure to noise at the workplace 10 Regulation 6 Elimination or control of exposure to noise at the workplace 16 Regulation 7 Hearing protection 19 Regulation 8 Maintenance and use of equipment 21 Regulation 9 Health surveillance 23 Regulation 10 Information, instruction and training 25 Regulation 11 Exemption certificates from hearing protection 27 Regulation 12 Exemption certificates for emergency services 28 Regulation 13 Exemptions relating to the Ministry of Defence 28 Regulation 14 Extension outside Great Britain 29 Regulation 15 Revocations, amendments and savings 29 Schedule 1 Part 1 Daily personal noise exposure levels (Regulation 2(1)) 30 Schedule 1 Part 2 Weekly personal noise exposure levels (Regulation 2(1)) 30 Schedule 2 Peak sound pressure level (Regulation 2(1)) 31 Schedule 3 Revocations (Regulation 15(2)) 31 Part 2: Management and control of risks from noise 32 Background 32 Assessing noise risk and planning for risk control 32 Control of noise exposure and risk 37 Part 3: Practical examples of noise control 41 Noise-reduction techniques 41 Designing and laying out the workplace for reduced noise exposure 46 Organisational controls 52 Part 4: Hearing protection 53 Providing hearing protectors and managing their use 53 Care and maintenance of hearing protectors 56 Part 5: Health surveillance for hearing damage 61 Part 6: Selecting quieter tools and machinery 64 Appendices Appendix 1: Predicting likely noise reduction from hearing protectors 69 Appendix 2: Measuring noise in the workplace 74 Appendix 3: Practical estimation of personal noise exposure 80 Appendix 4: Health surveillance using audiometric testing 90 Appendix 5: Sample documents 98 References 103 Further information 105

INTRODUCTION

1 Hearing damage caused by exposure to noise at work is permanent and incurable. Many people are exposed to noise levels at work that may be harmful. There are many new cases of people receiving compensation for hearing damage each year, through both civil claims and the government disability benefit scheme, with considerable costs to industry, society and, most importantly, the people who suffer the disability.

2 Hearing loss is usually gradual due to prolonged exposure to noise. It may only be when damage caused by noise over the years combines with normal hearing loss due to ageing that people realise how deaf they have become. Hearing damage can also be caused immediately by sudden, extremely loud noises. Exposure to noise can also cause tinnitus, which is a sensation of noises in the ears such as ringing or buzzing. Tinnitus may occur in combination with hearing loss.

3 Noise-related damages are entirely preventable if:

(a) employers take action to reduce exposure to noise and provide personal hearing protection and health surveillance to employees; (b) manufacturers design tools and machinery to operate more quietly; (c) employees make use of the personal hearing protection or other control measures supplied.

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 4 The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 (the Noise Regulations) came into force in April 2006. They do not apply to members of the public exposed to noise from their non- work activities. Regulations requiring control of noise at work have been in force since 1990, but for some workplaces noise regulations have been around for much longer, eg woodworking since 1972.

5 The duties in the Noise Regulations are in addition to the general duties set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (the HSW Act).1 These general duties extend to the safeguarding of the health and safety of people who are not your employees, such as students, voluntary workers, visitors and members of the public. Employees also have duties under the HSW Act to take care of their own health and safety and that of others whom their work may affect, and to co-operate with employers so that they may comply with health and safety legislation.

6 The Noise Regulations are designed to protect against risks to both health and safety from exposure to noise – the health risk of hearing damage in those exposed, and safety risks such as noise affecting the ability to hear instructions or warning sounds.

Introduction

About this book 7 This guidance has been updated in keeping with changes to related legislation, technical advances and experience. The layout of this revision has been modified to emphasise that the priority is for control of exposure and risk. There are changes in related legislation that have required minor changes to the Noise Regulations, eg Regulation 2(1), Regulation 3(3) and Regulation 7(4), but no changes to HSE’s policy on the control of noise.

8 Part 1 includes the Noise Regulations, together with guidance on what they mean. It sets out your legal obligations as an employer to control risks to workers’ health and safety from noise.

9 Parts 2–6 include more detailed advice on how to assess risks, practical noise control, how to select and use hearing protection, what to consider when buying and hiring equipment, and how to develop health surveillance procedures.

10 Appendices are included for those who provide the employer with competent advice and services. The consultant has duties under the HSW Act to provide competent and correct advice; however, it remains the responsibility of the employer to ensure compliance with the law.

11 The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has also published a free guidance leaflet for employers, Noise at work,2 which contains advice on how to comply with the Noise Regulations, as well as a pocket card for employees: Noise: Don’t lose your hearing! 3 HSE also publishes guidance on noise control in specific industrial sectors and for particular types of machine. You can get details on all useful publications from the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/noise or see the Further information section for other contact details.

Part 1: Legal duties of employers concerning noise at work

Regulation 1 Citation and commencement Regulation 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 and shall come into force on 6th April 2006, except that –

(a) for the music and entertainment sectors only they shall not come into force until 6th April 2008; and (b) subject to regulation 3(4), regulation 6(4) shall not come into force in relation to the master and crew of a seagoing ship until 6th April 2011.

Guidance 1 Transitional periods 12 Regulation 1(a) deferred the application of the Noise Regulations in the ‘music and entertainment’ sectors until 6 April 2008. The transitional period has now passed.

13 Regulation 1(b) deferred until 6 April 2011 application of the exposure limit values (ELVs) only (regulation 6(4)) for the master and crew of a seagoing ship (see also paragraph 22). The transitional period has now passed.

Regulation 2 Interpretation Regulation 2 (1) In these Regulations –

“daily personal noise exposure” means the level of daily personal noise exposure of an employee as ascertained in accordance with Schedule 1 Part 1, taking account of the level of noise and the duration of exposure and covering all noise;

“emergency services” include –

(a) police, fre, rescue and ambulance services; (b) Her Majesty’s Coastguard;

“enforcing authority” means the Executive, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, local authority or Office of Rail and Road determined in accordance with—

(a) section 18(1A) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; (b) the provisions of the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998; and (c) the provisions of the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority for Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems) Regulations 2006;

“the Executive” means the Health and Safety Executive;

“exposure limit value” means the level of daily or weekly personal noise exposure or of peak sound pressure set out in regulation 4 which must not be exceeded;

Part 1: Legal duties of employers concerning noise at work

Regulation 2 “health surveillance” means assessment of the state of health of an employee, as related to exposure to noise;

“lower exposure action value” means the lower of the two levels of daily or weekly personal noise exposure or of peak sound pressure set out in regulation 4 which, if reached or exceeded, require specified action to be taken to reduce risk;

“the music and entertainment sectors” mean all workplaces where –

(a) live music is played; or (b) recorded music is played in a restaurant, bar, public house, discotheque or nightclub, or alongside live music or a live dramatic or dance performance;

“noise” means any audible sound;

“peak sound pressure” means the maximum sound pressure to which an employee is exposed, ascertained in accordance with Schedule 2;

“risk assessment” means the assessment of risk required by regulation 5;

“upper exposure action value” means the higher of the two levels of daily or weekly personal noise exposure or of peak sound pressure set out in regulation 4 which, if reached or exceeded, require specified action to be taken to reduce risk;

“weekly personal noise exposure” means the level of weekly personal noise exposure as ascertained in accordance with Schedule 1 Part 2, taking account of the level of noise and the duration of exposure and covering all noise; and

“working day” means a daily working period, irrespective of the time of day when it begins or ends, and of whether it begins or ends on the same calendar day.

(2) In these Regulations, a reference to an employee being exposed to noise is a reference to the exposure of that employee to noise which arises while he is at work, or arises out of or in connection with his work.

Regulation 3 Application Regulation 3 (1) These Regulations shall have effect with a view to protecting persons against risk to their health and safety arising from exposure to noise at work.

(2) Where a duty is placed by these Regulations on an employer in respect of his employees, the employer shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be under a like duty in respect of any other person at work who may be affected by the work carried out by the employer except that the duties of the employer –

(a) under regulation 9 (health surveillance) shall not extend to persons who are not his employees; and (b) under regulation 10 (information, instruction and training) shall not extend to persons who are not his employees, unless those persons are present at the workplace where the work is being carried out.

(3) These Regulations shall apply to a relevant self-employed person as they apply to an employer and an employee and as if that relevant self-employed person were both an employer and an employee, except that regulation 9 shall not apply to a relevant self-employed person.

Regulation 3 (3A) For the purposes of this regulation, “relevant self-employed person” means a self- employed person who conducts an undertaking of a prescribed description for the purposes of section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

(4) These Regulations shall not apply to the master or crew of a ship or to the employer of such persons in respect of the normal shipboard activities of a ship’s crew which are carried out solely by the crew under the direction of the master, and for the purposes of this paragraph “ship” includes every description of vessel used in navigation, other than a ship forming part of Her Majesty’s Navy.

Guidance 3 People who are not your employees 14 Sometimes your activities may cause employees of other employers to be exposed to noise, eg where contractors take noisy tools into quiet premises to do their job, or they go to do a quiet job in premises that are already noisy. Regulation 3(2) places duties on all the employers involved and each will have a responsibility:

(a) to their own employees; (b) so far as is reasonably practicable, to any other person at work who is affected by the work they do.

15 This responsibility applies to all the duties under the Noise Regulations except health surveillance (regulation 9), which you do not have to provide for anyone other than your own employees. You should provide information, instruction and training (regulation 10) to the employees of others in relation to the specific job they are doing for you.

Multi-contractor sites 16 In most cases, employers can fulfil their duties without confusion or unnecessary duplication by collaborating and exchanging information with other dutyholders. On multi-contractor sites they will usually need to agree on who is to co-ordinate action to comply with health and safety requirements; this will normally be the person in overall control of the work. This person should make sure that responsibilities for controlling risks are clearly defined. For example, it will often be appropriate for the employer in overall control to make sure that risks are assessed and controlled and that the information on noise is made available to all affected employers, while the actual employer of each worker provides any training needed.

17 Where contractors and sub-contractors are involved it is usually best for responsibilities to be set out in the contractual arrangements. For construction projects, the principal contractor under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 4 should ensure co-operation between all contractors.

18 If you are in charge of premises you should make sure that visiting workers, including contractors, know in which areas they should use hearing protection and know how to obtain it. You may wish to include this information in induction information for new staff and/or in general training.

19 If your employees need to visit premises controlled by someone else (eg for maintenance or survey work) you should consider whether exposure over the exposure action values (EAVs) is likely, and what can reasonably be done to control it (eg by providing hearing protection adequate for the worst likely exposure). Employees should co-operate with their employers so far as this is necessary so that employers can meet their obligations.

Part 1: Legal duties of employers concerning noise at work

Guidance 3 The relevant self-employed 20 Regulation 3(3) defines both employer and employee to include relevant self-employed people. If you are a relevant self-employed person you must take action as set out in the Noise Regulations to protect yourself from noise risks. Although relevant self-employed people are not required to provide themselves with health surveillance in accordance with regulation 9, it is recommended that they follow the guidance in Part 5 and, where appropriate, consult an occupational health service provider. This will ensure that early signs of hearing loss are identified and will allow risks to be reviewed and controls revised as necessary.

Trainees 21 The Health and Safety (Training for Employment) Regulations 19905 require trainees on relevant work training schemes in the workplace (but not those on courses at educational establishments such as universities or schools) to be treated as the employee of the person whose undertaking is providing the training. Your duties towards trainees will include all the requirements of the Noise Regulations including assessment and control of risks, provision of health surveillance, provision of information, instruction and training and consideration of whether any trainees might be at particular risk.

Application to ships, other vessels and aircraft 22 The Noise Regulations apply to work taking place in ships, boats, and other vessels operated by Her Majesty’s Navy at all times. They also apply to work on any vessel carried out alongside shore workers when it is moored or in dock. Regulation 3(4) states that the Noise Regulations do not apply to the master and crew of a ship. This refers to work done by the crew under the control of the ship’s master when the ship is under way or work done by them in harbour when no shore- based workers are involved. The Maritime and Coastguard