Noise impact at workplaces on construction sites (IV)

Status:

completed 09/2003

Aims:

In many areas, the risk of damage to human hearing present at construction site workplaces is difficult to rate in accordance with the BG regulation BGV B 3 "Noise" (formerly a UVV accident prevention regulation) owing to the variation in exposure. The objective of this study was to provide statistically validated values for the mean value and standard deviation of the noise impact for the following occupations: construction worker, composition floor layer, sheet-metal worker, and crane operator.

Activities/Methods:

The BG Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BIA) developed the dosimetry technique required for this project in the early nineteen-eighties. This measurement technique was employed in previous BIA projects for measurement of the corresponding noise impact values for bricklayers, formwork setters, steelfixers, concrete workers, carpenters, heating and sanitary fitters, plastering machine operators, dry construction fitters, trenchers, roofers, scaffolders, façade construction workers, rail track layers, building locksmiths, road construction workers (preparatory work for road surface construction, black top finishers, concrete paver installers, road markers, crash barrier fitters), special foundation workers and corrosion technicians. As in the previous projects, the two variables LAeq (A-weighted equivalent continuous sound level) and LAIeq (A-weighted equivalent continuous sound level with the time weighting "Impuls" ) were to be measured in parallel by dosimetric techniques in order to permit rating of the noise impact in accordance with the BGV B3 "Noise" and DIN 45 645 "Determination of rating levels from measurements - Part 2: Noise immissions at the workplace".

Results:

The (noise) rating level of an occupation provides an indication of the noise level to which employees carrying out the occupation are exposed. Typical rating levels were measured for further occupations in this sector to supplement the noise exposure measurements already performed for a range of occupations in the construction industry. The results now available provide an important basis for measures for the protection of employees against noise. High-noise machinery and equipment can be designed so as to generate less noise, and the selection criteria for hearing protectors can be defined more closely.

Further informations:

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