Sound advice - 11/06/2011

Sound advice for music and entertainment industry

As the summer festivals get into full swing RANA risk management has concerns that the hearing of people working in the UK’s music and entertainment industry is being placed at risk.

The IOSH safety body quoted new figures which show 21,000 people a year experience work-related hearing problems, while 10% of the nation’s adults currently have tinnitus all the time.

As a result, RANA offer these simple guidelines to safeguard their staff’s hearing by using some simple, low cost techniques.

Encourage employers to take steps to reduce noise risk by:

• angling speakers away from bars and onto dance floors
• rotating staff to give people breaks from noise
• engineering out high frequencies
• providing rest areas and breaks
• providing ear plugs or defenders
• using dose meters to test noise
• giving employees hearing tests

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 made it a legal obligation for companies to manage the risk their noise levels create.