As operational leaders, health and safety managers, and skilled tradespeople, you share a critical responsibility—protecting your workforce from excessive noise exposure.
It's an easy thing to overlook, but the power tools, heavy machinery, and equipment needed to get the job done can generate hazardous noise levels that can permanently damage the ear and lead to life-altering hearing loss.
These hazards may not cause immediate harm, but make no mistake, ignoring noise risks can have devastating impacts on your people's quality of life and your company's reputation and bottom line.
Having trouble hearing your spouse, children or friends is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to noise-induced hearing loss.
The harm is irreversible and life-altering. Things we can take for granted like listening to music or hearing your child's laughter are forever compromised. Don't let this preventable injury impact your people's well-being.
In the UK, the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 are crystal clear - employers must assess risks, implement controls to minimize exposures, provide training, maintain equipment and offer medical monitoring. Failing to uphold these requirements can result in crippling fines and legal costs.
Consider the 2016 case where Cambridgeshire livestock firms were fined £660,000 after exposing workers to excessive noise levels from machinery like feed milling plants. In 2022, tractor manufacturer JCB was fined £950,000 for noise violations that dated back over a decade.
North American companies face similar legal control of noise obligations under OSHA and provincial regulations. In 2020, Illinois-based manufacturer Liev Compliance was hit with $215,000 in penalties related to uncontrolled noise hazards. The message is clear - ignore noise risks at your own peril.
For operations exceeding Action Levels, there's no time to waste in developing and implementing a noise control strategy. Utilize the hierarchy of controls to systematically reduce overall exposures to as low as reasonably achievable:
The goal is to drive down exposures through smarter work practices and engineering—not simply relying on workers to properly wear protective equipment. Develop a strategic, multimedia approach customized to your specific site exposures and operations.
Where noise exposures can't be fully controlled through engineering and administrative methods, your workforce also needs access to occupational health monitoring. Known as "audiometric testing".
For health surveillance and audiometric testing programs to be effective, you'll need disciplined processes for intake assessments, routine monitoring, thorough documentation, and referral/treatment protocols.
Partner with qualified occupational health providers to design and manage an audiometric testing regime customized for your operations and workforce needs.
What is the simplest way to summarize your responsibilities? Protecting employees' hearing is a fundamental value that permeates every level of your organization.
Don't accept noise-induced hearing loss as an inevitable byproduct of industrial work. It's 100% preventable if everyone from front-line personnel to the C-suite prioritizes safety over production expediency.
Establish hearing conservation policies and empower everyone with the knowledge and authority to stop work if uncontrolled hazardous noise exposures are present. Conduct noise monitoring audits to validate control effectiveness, identify potential failures, and facilitate continuous improvement. Energize your workforce by sharing success stories where smart interventions prevent injuries.
Ultimately, safeguarding your people's hearing and wellbeing just makes good business sense. Teams that can effectively communicate minimize errors and optimize operational performance. Protecting your brand and avoiding legal penalties also preserves your bottom line. There's no downside to getting serious about managing this persistent workplace hazard.
Don't let one more employee suffer the isolating, debilitating impacts of noise-induced hearing damage before you take decisive action.
Even the best-laid noise control plans will fall flat without comprehensive personnel training and engagement. Don't just check a regulatory box—invest in making noise exposure awareness an integral part of your organization's safety culture.
Utilize robust self-directed eLearning that educates your teams on:
Go beyond simple PowerPoints and videos with interactive instruction, hands-on sound level monitoring practice, and even assessments and exercises to make training stick.
Prioritize developing noise safety training skills for operations leaders and frontline supervisors to drive accountability and culture change.
At Learning Pool, we’re committed to supporting your safety and safeguarding initiatives.
We've added a dedicated eLearning course on Noise at Work, into our Health and Safety Level 1 collection. Written by Andrew Ashford, Expert in Health and Safety, this course is now available in your tenant if you're already using the collection.
Also available through our Adaptive Compliance course content is Hearing Conservation Fundamentals.
If you don’t yet have access to this collection and would like to know more, or if you’d like to know more about the adaptive compliance offer, please get in touch for more information. We're here to help.