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Posted By artisdeeian
Morning all.
Just a quicky! I ham qualified to carry out noise surveys for occupational health and safety issues. However, we have had a few complaints from residents around the boundry of our factory. I have been asked to carry out a few samples of noise measurements. Can anyone tell me if there is a specific standard level of dB applicable to environmental noise measurements with such complaints? I know I should get a qualified person in, or take another course myself but this is just to take some measurments in the meantime.
Regards Ian.
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Posted By Taff
Hi,
This comes under part three of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (section 79) as "Statutory nuisance".
"noise emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance"
As guidance noise from A1 IPPC installations should not exceed 50dB during the day and 45db during the night.
Hope this helps
Taff
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Posted By Doug Kelly
If memory serves me right there was a British Standard (BS4242 I think!!??)giving guidance on the type of measurements required to undertake this kind of assessment. Googling the BS might help.
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Posted By Alan Hewett
I think its BS 4142
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Posted By Steve Derby
Hi
As well as statutes, look at any planning permissions for your factory. I had to deal with similar complaints a few years back, and I discovered that a previous planning permission had set an impossible boundary noise level. At the specified boundary our noise level was exceeded by a milk float using a road half a mile away!
I found it much more useful to liaise with the complainants to identify specific noises that caused them a problem (which we were able to address) rather than concentrating on legal issues.
Help this is useful
Steve
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Posted By Adrian Watson
Call in an EHO!
BS 4142 is not for the assessment of nuisance! See para 1 of the document.
Nuisance is more than just noise level; it relates to the interference with the use and enjoyment of land.
Regards
Adrian
Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner
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Posted By Fred Pratley
Nuisance noise can be tricky, but basically there is a formula used by LA to work out what your maximum permitted noise is based against the background levels. If the LA becomes involved, they will measure in Octave frequency and not total noise.
Ours turned out to be a noise from a stack which vibrated a house next door. Cause was traced to a worn shaft bearing.
The noise levels previously mentioned for A1 PPC are a good guide, but our daytime noise is somewhat higher - thanks to the M25!!!
If you can tell us the source of the noise, perhaps others may have some suggestiions?
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Posted By Paul Darby
In my experience if managing this for a large manufacturing plant located in a residential area, any talk of measurements and limits is irrelavent.
Nuisance noise is down to perception, the EA or LA may take measurements, but if local residents keep complaining they will insist you do something about it. As mentioned earlier it is how the enjoyment of land is affected.
I found that by far the best way of dealing with it was speak to each complainant individually (If you meet them as a group you will never get anywhere!) and identify which noise they disliked and attempt to deal with it at source. By doing this we identified a section of our ducting which was vibrating and an extraction fan running with failed bearings on an adjacent factory which didn't belong to us!
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Posted By Robert K Lewis
Check to see if you have any section 60 consents in place with the local authority. These will define the absolute limits set and any time periods involved. If you have such a consent and are exceeding the figures then the noise is deemed automatically as a nuisance. if you are below these then there can be no nuisance. If there are no section 60 figures then you will have to drop back to the general guidance provided and argue your case for the figures obtained.
You may well need some decent legal support to get the issue sorted if you have to rely on guidance documents.
Bob
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