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Posted By darren booth
does anyone here have any experience working with this kind of machinery?
the company i work for used to have one of these machines and i remember it was incredibly noisy. an operator is pursuing a compensation claim for tinnitus, that is alleged to have been caused by exposure to the noise emitted from this machine.
the company carried out no noise or risk assessment, and i have no data regarding the noise output of this machine. does anyone have a link to information or anything that could be of help? the machine was used to punch out holes in 10mm plate, at a speed of around 50 per minute (average),then it carried out a burn cycle, lasting around 20 minutes.i have e mailed the machine manufacturers in the usa, and also the uk distributor, both without reply.
thanks in advance!
darren.
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Posted By Martin Hartland
Darren,
Looks like your stuck with me!
We don’t use these machines, but we do have CNC Punch Presses that are also incredibly noisy, up to 115dBA. I can’t find any info for this specific type of machine, but that’s irrelevant really because without a suitable noise assessment, and evidence of any noise reductions you’ve implemented, you’re not going to be able to defend the claim.
Did the company issue suitable hearing protection, was it signed for, was he trained in its use, was its use enforced, was he ever disciplined for not wearing HP?
These may be your only defence.
Sorry to be the doomsayer.
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Posted By darren booth
oh well, looks like i will be spending another night on google!
thanks for your help martin.
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Posted By Dave Daniel
You would expect to see a Trumpf laser punch press or similar producing noise exposures exceeding the 2nd action level if used for heavy sheet. The laser is quiet but there is noise from the punch and also sometimes the rollers supporting the sheet.
How much noise depends on the material, punch patterns, programming, wear and tear, and the type of machine - You might find a machine being used at the upper limit of its capacity where a bigger heavier machine would be quieter and absorb the punch impact better.
I recall work done to introduce shear on punches in traditional presswork to reduce impact loadings and noise but suspect this would not be applied.
I've measured several of these in over the years. You should note that generally operators don't stand that close and its the noise at the ear, not the press you measure.
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Posted By Konstanty Budkiewicz
Previous respondents indicate that you have a reasonable chance of having used a hazardously noisy machine. So you may consider that your undertaking was at fault and possibly contributed to the initiation if Tinnitus.
My experience some years ago was that this situation was so widespread that the trade Unions had come to a National agreement with the Department of Work and Pensions. That agreement concerned the pursuance of claims and resulted in a graduated scale being determined for industrial hearing loss and associated damages claims. The top rate was at that time £1 500. The case I dealt with received no damages at all, because the induced loss was too low to meet the first threshold level for damages.
I therefore suggest that you hand over the limited available evidence and your case of mitigation to your insurance company. They may wish to get a formal hearing degradation report from a specialist in order to establish a baseline for the degree of harm, before they act on the potential claim.
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