Standards and regulations
Governments and regulatory bodies are well aware of the risks and dangers caused by noise. It is essential to protect employees who are regularly exposed to sound nuisance. Regulations continue to grow stricter, and industrial companies have to take action to prevent noise in order to meet standards. As a reference, this section describes some of the regulations and conditions in France.
Decree no. 2006-892 (July 19, 2006), which pertains to recommendations for health and safety applicable in cases where workers are exposed to risks due to noise, transposes the European directive 2003/10/CE pertaining to minimum health and safety recommendations for workers exposed to risks due to noise, and adds a section to labor legislation entitled “Preventing the risk of exposure to noise.”
Excerpts of French labor law articles R. 231-125 to R. 231-135 on “Preventing the risk of exposure to noise”:
- Required collective protection measures: Employers shall take preventive measures in order to minimize the risks resulting from exposure to noise.
- Risk evaluation: Employers are required to take exposure to noise into account when evaluating risk. Evaluation is noted in a single document that is updated annually.
- Introducing threshold values for exposure: Set at a daily exposure level of 87 dB(A) – the equivalent exposure value limit over a period of 8 hours – or a peak acoustic pressure level of 140 dB(C), these values take into account noise reduction provided by individual auditory protection devices worn by workers.
- Threshold exposure levels requiring preventive action: daily exposure level of 80 dB(A) or a peak acoustic pressure level of 135 dB(C).
- Reducing tolerance threshold levels by 5 dB(A) and reinforcing measures to be taken in case thresholds are exceeded.
- Measurement methods: French standard NF S31-084 (October 5, 2002) describes the methods and devices used to measure noise.
- Prevention seeks to eliminate or minimize the risks due to exposure to noise.
Low noise exposure requiring preventive action (level 1)
| Daily level of exposure to noise: 80 dB (A )
Peak level of acoustic pressure: 135 dB (A) French labor law references: Articles R 231-131-I-1°, 231-133 and 231-134-II & III |
Business owner requirements:
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Medium noise exposure requiring preventive action (level 2)
| Daily level of exposure to noise: 85 dB (A)
Peak level of acoustic pressure: 137 dB (A) French labor law references: Articles R 231-130-II, R 231-130-III, R 231-131-I-2°, R 231-134-I |
Business owner requirements:
|
Exposure threshold values (taking into account noise reduction provided by individual hearing protection devices worn by workers)
| Daily level of exposure to noise: 87 dB (A)
Peak level of acoustic pressure: 140 dB (A) French labor law references: Article R 231-132 |
Business owner requirements:
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ISO standards: Directive 89/392/CEE
- ISO 3740 to 3747: Sound emission by machines. Determining the level of acoustic power by measuring acoustic pressure.
- ISO 9614 (2 standards): Sound emission by machines. Determining the level of acoustic power by measuring acoustic intensity.
- ISO 11200 to 11201 (5 standards): Sound emission by machines. Determining the acoustic pressure emission level at workstations.
- ISO 4871: Declaration and verification of sound emissions by machines.
- ISO TR 11688: Designing reduced-noise machines. Recommended practices.
Recent regulation
NF S 31 080 – standard for offices and similar areas: “acoustic performance levels and criteria according to the type of space.”
In January 2006, AFNOR, the French Association for Standardization, published a standard that sets the rules for acoustic comfort within offices. Until that time, no French regulations for acoustic comfort had focused on office space. After a year of debates on the topic, agreement was reached on defining requirements according to the type of office space in question using simple, non-scientific terms that can be understood easily by everyone. These requirements were then translated into acoustic criteria. In the end, 8 types of rooms were defined: individual offices, group offices, open space, meeting rooms, relaxation areas, cafeterias, hallways and rooms not yet partitioned. Every type of space found in office buildings must respect acoustic requirements. The standard provides regulatory specifications according to three performance levels – standard, efficient and high-performance – for the following:
- Sound level from outside noise
- Sound level from machinery noise
- Duration of reverberation in each space
- Insulation from airplane noise
- Insulation from shock noise