Sell and Buy Quiet - the extended concept to reduce noise (at work and at home)

Despite progress in legislation, e.g. laws requiring employers to assess and address the noise risk for their workers, and in the use of new technologies, e.g. battery powered tools or gardening equipment, noise-induced hearing loss remains a problem even today. The NOise MAchinery Directive (NOMAD) Task Force of the European Member States cooperating in market surveillance has raised the awareness of many relevant stakeholders regarding the need for cooperation between manufacturers of products emitting noise and their users. A promising means to deal with the noise problem is to make possible and effective a real competition towards quieter machines and equipment, so that market forces drive the technological development. To that end, we introduce the concept of Selling and Buying Quiet and address the issues hindering its application. These became evident during NOMAD Phase 2, in particular at NOMAD Workshop 2 in 2019. The issues comprise general aspects, e.g. education on proper determination of noise emissions by manufacturers and use of noise information by machine users, as well as specific problems with existing EU legislation. Finally, we provide ideas and set goals to improve the situation, so that Buying and Selling Quiet will become a reality.

Reducing Employee Noise Exposure in Manufacturing: A Review of the 2014 workshop

In 2014, the Institute for Noise Control Engineering (INCE) Foundation, the Noise Control Foundation and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health organized a meeting of industry, government, and academic experts to discuss "Reducing Noise Exposures in the Manufacturing: Best Practices, Innovative Techniques, and the Workplace of the Future." This presentation will review the content of the recommendations for hearing loss prevention programs, successful implementations for noise control engineering, and new techniques to predict noise exposures in the workplace. Efforts to develop Buy Quiet programs and to promote the Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention and Innovation will be reviewed.

"Buy Quiet" with the added benefit of considering all safety, health, and cost factors

Approximately 22 million U.S. workers are exposed to hazardous workplace noise. The industries with the highest prevalence of self-reported occupational HL were Mining (61%), Construction (51%) and Manufacturing (47%). "Buy Quiet" is the most strategic way to reduce noise exposure. However, there are other safety, health, and cost factors that significantly influence a purchasing decision for equipment. A more holistic approach is needed. The safety requirements procurement standard (SAE AS6228) has extensive guidance for evaluating all the safety, health, and cost factors influencing a purchasing decision for equipment. The factors are systematically incorporated into a five-year life cycle score. Unfortunately, this standard is underutilized. Publication of SAE AIR6916 and one-page guidance for each tool type will help to address the underutilization. SAE AIR6916 provides simplified guidance for using the AS6228 standard. One-page guidance documents with example evaluations of life cycle scores will make it easier for additional tools to be evaluated in a consistent and comparable manner. Working with retailers and online shopping websites is needed to make the life-cycle score information more easily accessible and easy to use for making purchasing decisions. Additional efforts are aimed at making the life-cycle score methodology routinely utilized and adaptable to new applications.

How to make sell and buy quiet a reality in Britain

Hearing loss caused by excessive exposure to noise at work remains reportedly widespread. Purchase of quieter machinery is an efficient method of reducing both occupational noise exposure and the need to manage risk from noise, but it requires reliable noise information. Machinery supplied in Britain must have noise risk minimized and, where noise continues to present a risk, be supplied with data making clear the potential for noise risk, enabling identification of lower noise models and indicating methods of controlling that risk. In 2012 a pre-market surveillance exercise reported 80% non-compliance with these legal requirements and found it highly unlikely that buyers and users of machinery could make reliable decisions based on the noise data provided with machines. This paper considers the prospect of Sell and Buy Quiet becoming a reality in Britain through: restoring stakeholder confidence in noise data; establishing incentives for stakeholder action; making low noise machinery identifiable; clarifying and simplifying noise legislation; and improving some noise test codes.