Control of noise risk in the printing industry

Noise can be a problem in the printing industry. The printing industry in the United Kingdom (UK) employs approximately 130,000 people1 , many of whom have traditionally worked in noisy printing environments. HSE has undertaken two studies in the last 30 years, to gather noise information from this industry. The first study was conducted between 1985 and 1994. The information showed that Aweighted noise levels ranged from 81 to 103 dB (median 90 dB) and daily personal noise exposures ranged between 84 and 101 dB (median 90 dB)2 . These exposures were sufficiently high to indicate that workers were at real risk of developing work-related hearing damage.