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CoP - 3.0 - Occupational Noise PDF
CoP - 3.0 - Occupational Noise PDF
Framework
(AD EHSMS RF)
Code of Practice
Version 2.0
February 2012
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With gratitude Abu Dhabi EHS Center acknowledges the great support provided by the Executive
Council in facilitating the issuance of Abu Dhabi Emirate Environment, Health and Safety Management
System (AD EHSMS) and its implementation at Emirate level.
The issuance of the system would not have been possible without the supervision, diligent efforts and
productive recommendations of the AD EHS Center Board of Directors.
These documents (Regulatory Instruments) constitute the efforts of the Abu Dhabi EHS Center and the
concerned Sector Regulatory Authorities who worked together to integrate all relevant regulatory
requirements under AD EHSMS RF. The input, contribution and constructive views of all sectors is
highly appreciated.
May these documents prove to be beneficial and helpful in system implementation and in expanding
the knowledge in the EHS field.
Every effort was made in developing this document so that it does not conflict with existing local or
federal laws and regulations. In case of conflict, requirements of the existing local and federal laws and
regulations shall prevail, and all concerned are obliged to bring the same to the attention of AD EHS
Center for resolution.
This AD EHS Regulatory Instrument has been developed, reviewed and approved, following the
process as described in AD EHSMS Implementation Guideline: The Integration of EHS Requirements
in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, by the following stakeholders:
Abu Dhabi EHS Higher Committee;
Abu Dhabi EHS Center;
Environment Agency Abu Dhabi;
Department of Municipal Affairs;
Abu Dhabi City Municipality;
Al Ain City Municipality; and
Western Region Municipality.
Department of Transport Abu Dhabi;
Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority;
Health Authority - Abu Dhabi;
Higher Corporation for Specialized Economic Zones (ZonesCorp);
Center for Waste Management Abu Dhabi;
Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority;
Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority;
Abu Dhabi Education Council;
Regulation and Supervision Bureau; and
Other Relevant Federal and Local Competent Authorities.
Further, this document is not intended to conflict with any contractual obligations in effect at the time of
its issuance. However, all future contracts shall adhere to applicable requirements stated herein, and
existing long term contracts shall be brought into compliance with its requirements as soon as
reasonably practicable as stipulated by relevant subject authorities.
This document will be reviewed periodically as part of the continual improvement cycle.
(b) This CoP establishes the requirements and standards so that the risks associated with the
where employees could be exposed to noise levels in excess of 85 decibels (dB) as
measured on an A-weighted scale at any time during a work shift.
(b) Employers shall provide training to all employees exposed to noise at or above an 8-hr time
weighted average of 85 dB(A). Training shall be conducted within 30 days of starting work
and prior to working in a high noise area, and include:
(i) requirements of this CoP;
(ii) health hazards associated with exposure to noise above 85 dB(A);
(iii) signs and symptoms of noise exposure and hearing loss;
(iv) types of hearing loss;
(v) information on the employers hearing conservation program;
(vi) the purpose of hearing protectors along with the advantages, disadvantages, and
attenuation of various types of hearing protectors;
(vii) instructions on selection, fitting, use, and care of hearing protectors;
(viii) purpose of audiometric testing and explanation of the testing procedures; and
(ix) locations within the facility where noise hazards exists and hearing protection is
required.
3. Requirements
3.1 Roles and Responsibilities
3.1.1 Employers
(a) Employers shall eliminate noise hazards by purchasing low noise and vibration producing
equipment, maintaining equipment to manufacturers specifications, eliminating noise
hazards, erecting barriers, or implementing other control measures to eliminate / reduce
noise hazards, where reasonably practicable.
AD EHSMS RF Version 2.0 February 2012
CoP 3.0 Occupational Noise Page 6 of 20
(b) Employers shall provide protection to employees and visitors against the effects of noise
exposure when the sound levels exceed those shown in Appendix A when measured on the
A scale of a standard sound level meter at slow response. When noise levels are
determined by octave band analysis, the equivalent A-weighted sound level may be
determined using the procedure found in Appendix B.
(c) Employers shall ensure when employees are subjected levels exceeding those listed in
Appendix A, implement reasonably practicable administrative or engineering control
measures. If such control measures fail to reduce sound levels within the levels of Table
Appendix A, personal protective equipment shall be provided and used to reduce sound
levels within the levels of the table.
Note: If the variations in noise level involve maxima at intervals of 1 second or less, it is to
be considered continuous.
(d) Employers shall ensure employees and visitors are not be exposed to any continuous,
intermittent, or impact noise levels above 100 dB(A), unless the appropriate hearing
protection is provided.
(e) Employers shall develop and implement a Hearing Conservation Program as per Section
3.2 of this CoP when they have noise hazards that exceed 85 dB(A).
3.1.2 Employees
(a) Employees hall undertake their roles and responsibilities in accordance with the general
requirements of AD EHSMS RF Element 01 Roles, Responsibilities and Self-Regulation
Section 3.2.7.
(b) Employees shall report any activity or equipment defect relating to noise exposures which
they believe is reasonably practicable to cause and overexposure to themselves or another
person.
(c) Employees shall use appropriate hearing protection, equipment or safety devices provided
by the entity in accordance with any training or instruction received.
(b) Employers hearing conservation programs shall consist of the following elements:
(i) exposure monitoring:
1) employers shall use a competent person to develop and implement a monitoring
program and sampling strategy to assess employees exposure to noise;
(a) Employers shall post warning signs in each work area where the noise levels exceed 85
dB(A) notifying employees and visitors that hearing protection is required if entering or
working in the area. If double hearing protection is required, this shall be identified on the
AD EHSMS RF Version 2.0 February 2012
CoP 3.0 Occupational Noise Page 11 of 20
warning sign.
(b) Signs shall be in the language of employees entering the area. Signs shall comply with AD
EHS RI CoP 17.0 Safety Signage and Signals.
(a) In the event that pulse-tone audiometers are used, they shall have a tone on-time of at least
200 milliseconds.
(a) Rooms used for audiometric testing shall not have background sound pressure levels
exceeding those in Table 3.1 when measured by equipment conforming at least to the Type
2 requirements of American National Standard Specification for Sound Level Meters, S1.4-
1983 (R2006), and to the Class II requirements of American National Standard Specification
for Octave-Band and Fractional-Octave-Band Analog and Digital Filters, S1.11-2004
(R2009).
Table 3.1 Maximum Allowable Octave-Band Sound Pressure Levels for Audiometric Test Rooms
(a) The sound pressure level shall be determined by a sound level meter or dosimeter
conforming, as a minimum, to the requirement of the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) Specification for Sound Level Meters, S1.4-1983 (R2006), Type S2A, or ANSI S1.25-
1991 (R2007) Specification for Personal Noise Dosimeters. The measurement device shall
be set to use the A-weighted network with slow meter response. The duration of exposure
shall not exceed that shown in Appendix A. These values apply to the total duration of
exposure per working day regardless of whether this is one continuous exposure or a
number of short-termed exposures.
(b) A sound calibrator shall be used for direct calibration of sound level meter or dosimeter
before and after noise measurements. The sound calibrator shall comply with:
(i) EN/IEC 60942 (2003) Class LS and Class 1; and/or
(ii) ANSI S1.40-1984.
(c) Sound level meters and dosimeters shall be calibrated by the manufacturer or a
manufacturer approved third party organization according to manufacturers specifications.
(d) Occupational noise exposure assessments shall be completed in accordance with this CoP.
(e) When the daily noise exposure is composed of two or more periods of noise exposure of
different levels, their combined effect shall be considered rather than the individual effect of
each.
(f) When sound level meter or dosimeter readings exceed 85 dB(A), entities shall calculate the
allowable noise using the calculation found in Appendix C.
(b) Calculating double hearing protection (plugs and muffs) - When a single hearing protection
device is not sufficient to protect an employee for a noise hazard, and double protection
(plugs and muffs) is required, the hearing protection attenuation shall be calculated in the
following manner:
(An example of how to perform this calculation can be found in Appendix D.)
(i) calculate the hearing protection attenuation for the plugs as stated in Section 3.7(a);
4. Record Keeping
(a) Exposure monitoring, medical surveillance, examination and consultation records shall be
kept for a minimum of period of employment plus 30 years, as per AD EHSMS RF
Element 09 Compliance and Management Review.
(b) All compliance and training records shall be kept for a minimum of five (5) years, as per AD
EHSMS RF Element 09 Compliance and Management Review.
5. References
AD EHSMS RF Element 01 Roles, Responsibilities and Self-Regulation
Health and Safety Executive, Statutory Instruments 2005 No.1643, Health and Safety The
Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 29 CFR 1910.95 Occupational Noise
Exposure
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Specification for Sound Level Meters, S1.4-
1983 (R2006), Type S2A
NIOSH Publication No. 98-126, Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Noise
Exposure
Exposure Exposure
Duration, T Duration, T
Level, L Level, L
(dBA) Hours Minutes Seconds (dBA) Hours Minutes Seconds
80 24 - - 106 - 3 45
81 20 10 - 107 - 2 59
82 16 - - 108 - 2 22
83 12 42 - 109 - 1 53
84 10 5 - 110 - 1 29
85 8 - - 111 - 1 11
86 6 21 - 112 - - 56
87 5 2 - 113 - - 45
88 4 - - 114 - - 35
89 3 10 - 115 - - 28
90 2 31 - 116 - - 22
91 2 - - 117 - - 18
92 1 35 - 118 - - 14
93 1 16 - 119 - - 11
94 1 - - 120 - - 9
95 - 47 37 121 - - 7
96 - 37 48 122 - - 6
97 - 30 - 123 - - 4
98 - 23 49 124 - - 3
99 - 18 59 125 - - 3
100 - 15 - 126 - - 2
101 - 11 54 127 - - 1
102 - 9 27 128 - - 1
103 - 7 30 129 - - 1
104 - 5 57 130-140 - - <1
105 - 4 43 - - - -
A person shall not be exposed to any continuous, intermittent, or impact noise levels above
100 dB(A), unless the appropriate hearing protection is provided.
When noise levels are determined by octave band analysis, the equivalent A-weighted sound level may
be determined using the following procedure:
Step 2: The A-corrected band levels shall be converted into arbitrary intensity units I using
Table B;
Step 4: The total value of I shall be converted into A-weighted sound level, dB(A), using
Table B. When the total value of I falls between two values in the table, take the next
higher value of sound level.
Octave band center frequency Hz 63 125 250 200 1000 2000 4000 8000
A-weighting correction dB -26 -16 -9 -3 0 +1 +1 -1
Table A
dB 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
60 .0010 .0013 .0016 .0020 .0025 .0032 .0040 .0050 .0063 .0079
70 .010 .013 .016 .020 .025 .032 .040 .050 .063 .079
80 .100 .126 .158 .200 .251 .316 .398 .501 .631 .794
90 1.00 1.26 1.58 2.00 2.51 3.16 3.98 5.01 6.31 7.94
100 10.0 12.6 15.8 20.0 25.1 31.6 39.8 50.1 63.1 79.4
110 100 126 158 200 251 316 398 501 631 794
Table B
Example Problem:
The first two columns in the table below show the octave band sound pressure level measured in each
octave band center frequency. Column three shows the A-weighting corrections taken from Table A as
required in Step1 above, and column four gives the A-corrected octave band. The A-corrected octave
band levels are converted into I values using Table B as required in Step 2 above. Column 5 shows
the I value for each frequency, which is then added together as required in Step 3 above. The total
value for I is then converted into an A-weighted sound level value using Table B, as required in Step 4
above.
Calculation of total noise exposure (dose) shall be done using the following calculation:
C1 C2 Cn
D= + +
T1 T2 Tn
Example:
You measure a sound level of 88dB(A) for 2 hours, 91dBA for 30 min, and 85dB(A) for 3 hours. Have
you exceeded the allowed 8-hr time-weighted average of 85 dB(A)?
T88 = 4hrs, T91 = 2hrs, T85 = 8hrs
C88 = 2hrs, C91 = 0.5hrs, C85 = 3hrs
2 0.5 3
D= + + D =1.125
4 2 8
Since D is greater than one (1.125) you have exceeded the 8-hr time-weighted average of 85 dB(A).
(i) When calculating the hearing protection attenuation, the employer shall take the noise reduction
rating (NRR) stated by the manufacture of the hearing protection and subtract 7dB from the rating.
(ii) The calculated hearing protection attenuation shall then be subtracted from the worksite sound
level measured with a sound level meter or dosimeter on the A-weighted scale. If the calculated
exposure is below 85 decibels, the hearing protection shall be determined to be appropriate.
Example:
Noise monitoring determines a level of 94 decibels on the A-weighted scale.
Hearing protection is rated by the manufacture to have a NRR of 28dB
Hearing Protection Attenuation = 28dB 7dB = 21dB
Employee exposure with hearing protection = 94dB 21dB = 73dB
The hearing protection is appropriate to protect employees.
This document is and shall remain the property of the AD EHS Center. The document may only be used for the purposes
for which it was intended. Unauthorised use or reproduction of this document is prohibited.