HEARING PROTECTION
xcessive long-term workplace noise exposure causes deafness, tinnitus and other types of damage. Also, noise at work can interfere with communications thereby making warnings harder to hear and reduce people’s awareness of their surroundings, leading to safety risks involving injury or death. Employers have general and specific obligations in respect of protecting their workers from health risks of excessive noise exposure according to The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 (CONAWR).
E The general duties for an employer are to
Eliminate risks from noise exposure, or where this is not practicable, reduce them to the lowest level reasonably practicable.
Assess, and, if necessary, measure, the levels of noise to which workers are exposed.
Consult with employees and
Eliminate or minimise any risks to health due to noise exposure.
If an employee proves that their hearing loss results from a breach of an employer’s duties under CONAWR, they may make a claim for compensation under the Common Law tort of
negligence. Typically, each year the insurance industry pays out about £70m to settle hearing loss claims. Although appropriate insurance will cover such claims, there are uninsured costs associated with the time spent by management in preparing to defend a claim. Moreover, insurers may insist that an employer acts in such a way as to minimise claims. If they are not satisfied that this is being done, they will increase premiums and, in extreme cases, may refuse to provide cover. Apart from resulting in compensation claims, breach of The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 is a criminal offence liable to prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive. To meet the duties imposed by CONAWR, an employer needs to know who is at risk and the level of that risk. The key to satisfying the requirements is an adequate Noise Risk Assessment which not only involves appropriate measurements but the formulation of a plan to tackle noise problems by identifying what is causing the risk (what processes, machines, etc) and determining priorities for action.
Many businesses could save the expense of going to an outside agency to carry out such an assessment if the process is carried out in-house. The Institute of Acoustics (IOA). the UK professional body for those working in acoustics, noise and vibration, offers a Certificate of Competence in Workplace Noise Risk Assessment. This provides education and training on carrying out workplace noise assessments in a competent manner, as required by CONAWR. Information regarding the course is available at
www.ioa.org.uk/education.
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