The new statutory limits lower acceptable noise levels by five decibels. Employers will be required to take action to limit staff exposure to excessive noise and also provide adequate protection from hearing damage.
In order to help organizations meet this challenge with the correct information and the best practical advice, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is holding Sound Off - Noise Reduction at Work at the Earls Court Conference Centre in London. This two-day event, on October 11 and 12, is managed by CMP Information and supported by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID).
Lawrence Waterman, President of IOSH commented: "We need to help employers and workers in the music industry understand the risks of noise exposure. Music can bring so much joy and colour into people's lives, how sad then that those working in the industry can lose their own hearing, simply endeavouring to bring this pleasure to others."
Andrew Maxey, of the HSE's Injuries Reduction Programme, said: "Around 170,000 people in the UK suffer deafness, tinnitus or other ear conditions as a result of exposure to excessive noise at work. The revised regulations are an important step towards reducing this figure."
RNID spokesperson Mark Hoda said: "Because noise damage is cumulative and the effects not immediate, employers often fail to enforce hearing protection for their staff. A simple measure of wearing quality ear plugs would protect these workers from long-term irreparable damage."
Conductor Graham Lea-Cox welcomes the action that these regulations will demand: "We've been bleating in the wilderness for years about the levels of noise that many professionals within the music industry have to put up with. I'm glad that our concerns have finally been taken seriously."
Sound Off will feature special sessions for the music and entertainment industry, as well as for local government, construction and manufacturing. Speakers at the conference will include Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, minister responsible for health and safety at the Department for Work and Pensions, Lawrence Waterman, President of IOSH and Evelyn Glennie OBE, renowned percussionist and BAFTA nominee.
Further details can be found by visiting the website below.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
