The Use of Noise Dampening Mats to Reduce Heavy-Equipment Noise Exposures in Construction

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bello A ; Saleh S ; Woskie S
• Description:
  The performance of sound barriers was evaluated to determine their technical effectiveness and practicality in reducing noise exposures to operating engineers in construction. Commercially purchased sound dampening mats (SDMats) were installed inside three heavy-equipment engine compartments. Sound pressure levels (SPLs) were measured before and after installing the SDMats while the equipment was on idle and full-throttle settings where it normally operates. SPLs inside the heavy-equipment operator cabs were significantly reduced by 5.6-7.6 dBA on the full-throttle setting following installation of the SDMats (p < 0.01). The evaluated engineering control intervention was simple to install, affordable, and substantially reduced the engine noise reaching the heavy-equipment operator, potentially reducing reliance on hearing-protection devices to protect construction workers from noise exposures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Engineering Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Noise Engineering Control In Construction Construction Workers Engineering Controls Equipment Operators Heavy Equipment Noise Absorption Noise Control Sound Absorbers Sound Barriers
• ISSN:
  2093-7911
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  226-230
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069082
• Citation:
  Saf Health Work 2017 Jun; 8(2):226-230
• Contact Point Address:
  Sabah Saleh, Department of Work Environment, Kitson Hall, Room 200, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1 University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
• Email:
  Sabah_Saleh@student.uml.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  Safety and Health at Work
• End Date:
  20240831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:227563f16017e7d1bb21999f20aedbdc07fdab585129fde82875f7131b6ab4108d89f75e0c16df87038bcc27f4efad96871c65cbc31959024f498800b82000b5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207628/cdc_207628_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.31 MB ]