Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

And provide hearing protection
Changes in noise exposures
New ways to reduce risks

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Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
372
The risk assessment should:
➤
identify where there may be a risk from noise and 
who is likely to be affected
➤
contain a reliable estimate of employees’ exposures, 
and compare the exposure with the exposure action 
values and limit values
➤
identify what needs to be done to comply with the 
law, e.g. whether noise-control measures or hearing 
protection are needed, and, if so, where and what 
type, and
➤
identify any employees who need to be provided 
with health surveillance and whether any are at par-
ticular risk.
The risk assessment should include consideration of:
➤
the level, type and duration of exposure, including 
ant exposure to peak sound pressure
➤
the effects of exposure to noise on employees or 
groups of employees whose health is at particular risk
➤
sfarp any effects on the health and safety of employ-
ees resulting from the interaction e.g. between noise 
and vibration
➤
any indirect effects from the interaction between 
noise and audible warnings
➤
manufacturers 
information
➤
availability of alternative equipment designed to 
reduce noise emissions
➤
any extension to noise exposure due to extended 
hours or in supervised rest facilities
➤
information following health surveillance
➤
availability of personal hearing protectors with 
adequate attenuation characteristics.
It is essential that employers can show that their esti-
mate of employees’ exposure is representative of the 
work that they do. It needs to take account of:
➤
the work they do or are likely to do
➤
the ways in which they do the work, and
➤
how it might vary from one day to the next.
The estimate must be based on reliable information, 
e.g. measurements in their own workplace, information 
from other similar workplaces, or data from suppliers of 
machinery.
Employers must record the signifi cant fi ndings of 
their risk assessment. They need to record in an action 
plan anything identifi ed as being necessary to comply 
with the law, setting out what they have done and what 
they are going to do, with a timetable and saying who 
will be responsible for the work.
The risk assessment should be reviewed if circum-
stances in the workplace change and affect noise 
exposures. Also it should be reviewed regularly to make 
sure that the employer continues to do all that is reason-
ably practicable to control the noise risks. Even if it 
appears that nothing has changed, employers should 
not leave it for more than about two years without 
checking whether a review is needed.