Assessment of Noise Exposure for Indoor and Outdoor Firing Ranges

Details

• Personal Author:
  Murphy, William J. ; Tubbs, Randy L.
• Description:
  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received an employee request for a health hazard evaluation of a Special Weapons Assault Team (SWAT) in January 2002. The department was concerned about noise exposures and potential hearing damage from weapons training on their indoor and outdoor firing ranges. NIOSH investigators conducted noise sampling with an acoustic mannequin head and 1/4 -inch microphone to characterize the noise exposures that officers might experience during small arms qualification and training when wearing a variety of hearing protection devices provided by the department. The peak sound pressure levels for the various weapons ranged from 156 to 170 decibels (dB SPL), which are greater than the recommended allowable 140 dB SPL exposure guideline from NIOSH. The earplugs, ear muffs, and customized SWAT team hearing protectors provided between 25 and 35 dB of peak reduction. Double hearing protection (plugs plus muffs) added 15-20 dB of peak reduction. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Ear Emergency Responders Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Law Enforcement Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Safety Sense Organs

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• Keywords:
  Ear-protection Ear-protectors Emergency-responders Hearing-level Hearing-loss Hearing-protection Impulse-noise Noise-analysis Noise-exposure Noise-induced-hearing-loss Noise-measurement Noise-protection Noise-sources Police-officers

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  4
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032531
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2007 Sep; 4(9):688-697
• Contact Point Address:
  William J. Murphy, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Applied Research and Technology, Engineering and Physical Hazards Branch, 4676 Columbia Parkway, MS C-26, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Email:
  wmurphy@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:14bfbd1a48f656c910424bddd131fe57fb9f7922c6507cfa270ca92fcb00e27af5e8e8b1b0f323351d06ab73c4b59f2d50b35ebbbb1597e79f51e12563614126
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186468/cdc_186468_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.07 MB ]