Sound advice

Published: 12-Nov-2009

Mike Prince, clean industry key account manager at Saint-Gobain Ecophon, looks at the issues of noise in production areas and offers some solutions

Hearing loss caused by work is a significant occupational disease with some 170,000 people in the UK suffering from hearing damage as a result of exposure to excessive noise in the workplace. For businesses that don’t comply with the latest Control of Noise at Work regulations the consequences are severe, with authorities able to withdraw licences, stop work or even prosecute. Hearing damage caused by regular exposure to high noise levels is often permanent and irreversible and throughout all industry, hearing loss remains the occupational disease with the highest number of civil claims, accounting for 75% of all occupational disease claims. The Noise at Work regulations, introduced in the UK for all sectors in 2005, specify that employers must assess the risk to workers’ health and provide information and training if they are regularly exposed to 80 decibels (dB). For those exposed to 85dB and above, employers must provide hearing protection and hearing protection zones. These regulations are particularly important for the pharmaceutical industry as many of its necessary processes produce high noise levels, which are made worse by the use of hard, reverberant surfaces in the workplace. To put these noise levels in perspective, 85dB is the noise level experienced in busy city traffic and for every 3dB increase, sound pressure also doubles.

Hearing protection should not be used for long-term risk management, unless other methods of noise control have proved impractical. Working with hearing protection can be uncomfortable, and so is often ignored by employees. It also makes it difficult to communicate with colleagues. It can sometimes lead to feelings of isolation and can also be a risk to safety, as hearing is often the first warning that a person has of approaching danger.

The European Directive 2003/10/EC on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from noise states in Article 5 – Provisions: “The risks arising from exposure to noise shall be eliminated at their source or reduced to a minimum by reducing airborne noise, using shields, enclosures or sound absorbent coverings.”

But is it possible to introduce sound absorption into cleanroom environments and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) areas? Sound absorbent materials are soft and porous, while pharmaceutical research and production areas require smooth, imperforate surfaces that can be easily cleaned and are non-shedding. A leading pharmaceutical company has recently installed sound-absorbing ceilings in GMP areas that house tablet presses. A dramatic reduction in noise levels from 91dB to below 85dB has resulted in workers no longer needing to wear hearing protection.

Ecophon installed its Hygiene ceiling system to provide excellent sound absorption with a smooth, cleanable surface. The system is certified as cleanroom class 10/M2.5 (US Federal Standard 209E) or class 5 (EN ISO 14664-1), which means it can be used in the strictest GMP areas. The system can be easily cleaned with commonly used detergents and disinfectants, gas cleaned with hydrogen peroxide, or even high- pressure washed. If sound absorbent ceilings are not practical, sound absorbing wall panels are also available and ensure the same cleanroom standards.

Managing noise is not only about conforming to health and safety legislation; research has shown that a noisy workplace can cause other problems for both employers and workers. For example, noise can contribute to stress, fatigue, diminished concentration, low morale and reduced production and quality of work, eventually leading to a high staff turnover, requiring more management time and training. Distracting noise makes it difficult to concentrate, particularly when work requires a focused and logical thought process. In a room with good acoustics important sounds, such as speech, should be emphasised, while unwanted sounds are eliminated or dampened to the extent they are no longer disturbing. Good speech intelligibility means a balance between reverberation time and background noise. To find the right balance, Ecophon applies a technique called Room Acoustic Comfort to evaluate different room types and the activities that take place within them. Using its range of acoustic ceiling and wall panel systems, Ecophon can achieve a typical reduction in noise levels of 5–8dB.

It is possible to manage noise in the workplace and solutions are available to help pharma companies address the issue, despite working in the most difficult and controlled environments.

Contact Mike Prince Saint-Gobain Ecophon T +44 1256 850989, M +44 7771 565379 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) www.ecophon.co.uk

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