Not only loud noises (peak exposure) are harmful to your hearing, but mainly prolonged exposure to single-toned noise is harmful. The so-called chronical exposure to noise in particular, causes problems in the long term.
Examples of everyday noises with the time factor after which hearing damage occurs:
| Decibel |
Duration |
Machine |
| 110 dB |
directly |
Stud gun, circular saw, electric hand drill |
| 100 dB |
5 min |
Grinder, leaf blower, motorcycling (100 km/h) |
| 90 dB |
1 hour |
Drum kit, cutting torch, bulldozer |
| 80 dB |
8 hour |
Vacuum cleaner, city traffic |
| 70 dB |
>8 hour |
Mixer, razor, car, busy office |
| 60 dB |
– |
Piano playing, conversation, washing machine |
Hearing loss also involves consequences for the alertness of employees and thus the safety in the workplace. There will be 25% more risk of an accident when you suffer from hearing loss. This is because employees are less able to hear vehicles and other signals. Even if there is no hearing damage yet, noises could disrupt the production and cooperation. Therefore, it is recommended to address annoying and harmful noise as firmly as possible.
