Heavy Construction Equipment Noise Study Using Dosimetry and Time-Motion Studies

Details

• Personal Author:
  Spencer ER
• Description:
  Noise-induced hearing loss continues to afflict workers in many occupational settings despite longstanding recognition of the problems and well-known methods of prevention and regulations. Sound levels associated with heavy construction equipment range from 80 to 120 dB(A), and power tools commonly used in construction produce sound levels up to 115 dB(A). The focus of this research was to determine the noise exposures of heavy construction equipment operators while documenting the workers' tasks (e.g., hauling, moving, and/or pushing construction material). Time-motion studies were performed at the construction sites and were used to correlate the noise dosage with the work performed by equipment operators. The cumulative dose for the operator was then plotted with references to work tasks in order to identify the tasks that caused the greatest noise exposure. Three construction sites in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio were studied for this research. The types of construction equipment studied included asphalt pavers, backhoes, bulldozers, compaction equipment, excavators, haul trucks, telehandlers, and wheeled loaders. The results showed that bulldozer operators consistently had the highest noise exposures, ranging from a NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL) dose of 844% to 25,836% and an OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL) dose of 139% to 1,397%. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Noise Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-workers Equipment-operators Hearing-loss Noise-exposure Noise-induced-hearing-loss Noise-levels Occupational-health
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISBN:
  9781622762712
• Publisher:
  Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029016
• Citation:
  NOISE-CON 2005: Proceedings of the 2005 National Conference on Noise Control Engineering, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 17-19, 2005. Ames, IA: Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA, 2005 Oct; :859-866
• Email:
  ESpencer@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  NOISE-CON 2005: Proceedings of the 2005 National Conference on Noise Control Engineering, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 17-19, 2005
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0e70e58808f73af708a0152bb4577b67bdde6c2729bbdcaefc0d39a3a13d9bc1276530d9505e13effd65ff6412220ff1a1263955f1c0bb233375cbbae96ad045
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/221132/cdc_221132_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 154.82 KB ]