Managing occupational noise from blasts

Manuel, Gethin Wyn; Waddington, David

Abstract

The aim of this work is to examine the current best practice for the assessment of auditory hazards associated with occupational impulsive noise for a UK-based test site. A summary of the literature is presented on the measurement methodologies, hearing conservation, and relevant guidance for the selection of hearing protection within the context of near-field impulsive noise. The current U,K. best practice recommends the adapted HML method from Defence Standard 0027:2015 using a C-peak measurement of exposure to compare with the national regulations. On-site measurements were made at the DNV Spadeadam Testing and Research Site (STaR), which performs full-scale high-intensity blast testing. Analyses of the trials data show that the C-peak personnel exposures resulted in acceptable levels below the 140dBCpk limit within the national regulations when using the prescribed hearing protection, according to the adapted HML method. It is concluded that the adapted HML assessment is unclear on how excessive low-frequency content and multiple pressure peaks are accounted for. The implication of this work is that further research is required to improve current best practice to quantify the uncertainties introduced by the additional characteristics found within real impulsive noise exposures.

Citation

Manuel, G. W., & Waddington, D. (2022). Managing occupational noise from blasts. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0011094

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: May 10, 2022
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jul 29, 2022
• Journal: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
• Publisher: Acoustical Society of America
• Volume: 151
• Issue: 4_Supplement
• Pages: A216-A216
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0011094
• Keywords: Acoustics and Ultrasonics, Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0011094