We are looking at getting a small alarm to alert other members of staff that a liquid spill has occurred. This is a rare occurence but due to the location, we need to let other staff know that it has occurred to get assitance there asap.  We have found a small alarm that would do the trick but it is 125dBa.  My question is, would that be ok to activate (probably 30 seconds to 1 minute) without the need for hearing protection for the person activating the alarm?  Thanks in advance.

Hi Shelley,

The 125 dBa is the level of sound it generates at a fixed distance (usually 1m or 3m from the unit), not the level of noise people will be exposed to. The sound level will drop off following the inverse square rule. As such, you may find that unit is not 'loud' enough to ensure all can hear it above the background noise in the area - depending on where it is placed within the area and the distance requiring coverage. 

Also, as it's an alarm the 'normal' rules about protecting people's hearing don't apply the same. If the sound level for unit really was a problem then the manufacturer wouldn't have set it so high in the first place. Who would make an alarm that was so loud nobody could use it safely?

Hope it helps.

Tony.

Edited by user 02 November 2022 11:45:51(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Hi all, thanks for your responses.  The liquid is non-hazardous but gets quite sticky (food grade) and we are trying to get everyone to take some responsibility for assisting with clean-up if needed (we have had two instances where either no assitance was offered but other staff were aware or other staff were not aware of what had happened).  We have considered a call point (and there is one nearby) but wanted something that was very different from the fire alarm.  There is a wall between the nearest work area and where any spill could potentially happen and so whilst a flashing beacon may work long-term, we were ideally looking for a short-term solution that we could put in place quickly to see how that goes.

Once again, thank you for your answers - they are very useful.

I did think that it’s a bit strange to use an alarm in this way, especially such a loud one. This makes sense for an evacuation alarm, as people a) need to alerted  that they need to evacuate and b) they will be moving away from the noise source when they evacuate. In your case though they will be moving towards the noise source. You say that it will only be on for a minute at most. Will it turn itself off automatically after that minute or will someone turn it off manually. Isn’t there a risk of the alarm  be kept on longer to get more people  to clear up the spill?