Posted By Adam P
Hi,

Something that came up today. We have an area in work that is passed through quite frequently but not often worked in.
There is a siren that goes off every hour or so for about 30 seconds and the noise levels are 101 dB(A).

The backround noise is pretty quiet apart from when a crane passes over at 91 dB(A).

My question is should hearing protection be mandatory or is the exposure time too short to cause concern (people passing through will have less than 30 seconds exposure)

Any help would be appreciated

Posted By mike morland
Not sure if this will help in your own situation but HSE advice to us was that if you have an area whereby the wearing of hearing protection is already deemed mandatory then anyone passing through, regardless of duration, must also wear defenders.

If the area of work has specific areas (a particular machine for example) then hearing protection need only be used if either working on or passing by that particular machine/area/.

Getting people who briefly visit such areas to abide by the rules, particularly office staff who think it wont affect them, is the part that often needs constant reminders.

Regards