Occupational Annoyances, The Dangers of Low Noise

The occupational hazards of noise

Noise in the workplace is documented to be a hazard in high noise environments like factories or other settings. However low level noise can also be a significant factor. It can impair communication, ruin concentration, and cause headaches and lack of focus. People suffering from background noise disturbance are often not aware of the problem so see no need to remedy the situation.

In the industrial work environment noise is heavily monitored and workers often take what can seem to be extreme caution to protect their hearing. At times workers may wear a noise capturing devise to measure their total noise dose and determine weather or not they need to reduce their time in a work environment. Osha limits noise exposure based on a certain dose in a given time frame. If that level is exceeded the employer is subject to fine. The noise in most offices does not normally reach anywhere near decibel levels that need any type of regulation or cause hearing damage.

Office noise certainly does not have the long term damaging effect that, say, being a fire fighter may have on your hearing but in a more indirect way office noise can reach a maddening level. There is background noise from the road, people talking, printers, typing, elevator dings, etc. All of which can be major distractions for a person trying to focus.

Some of the office noise can be reduced or toned down by taking action to remedy situations, move equipment around or simply be mindful of others work environment. Other noise is simply there and must be tuned out or ignored. Road noise, ringing telephones, or building noise are pretty hard to eliminate without changing location or making serious changes to a building.

It is also important to note that sounds that may annoy one person do not bother another. A person waiting for a phone call will be happy to hear the phone ring while a person in the next office trying to focus a writing a speech may be broken out of flow by a ringing phone. It is important to take this into consideration when designing an office and placing equipment or when you are the person making the noise.

When designing an office it is a good idea to place as much noise producing equipment in one area as possible. Thus the reason for the copier room and putting the coffee pot away from work areas. Any disturbance to the workplace will have an impact of productivity.

Keeping noisy equipment maintained can reduce noise pollution. And excess noise from equipment can be an indication that there is a problem with that equipment. We are not simply talking equipment here but also, door, cabinets, chairs, anything that can squeak, grate, or be annoying.

Peoples voices can be one of the most disturbing noises in an office. People have the tendency to tune into other peoples conversations weather they want to or not. This is basically a survival mechanism and part of our curious makeup. Encourage people to talk elsewhere or talk in short voices.

Music or talk radio is similar to conversations. This noise may make a workday more enjoyable but at what cost. Talk radio especially can be very disturbing and cause many people to loose focus. While some types of music may help one person work they are likely disturbing to another. Find a happy medium or turn of the music.

Keep it quite!

Combating these problems starts with identifying problems and finding out if they really are bothersome to people in your office. Chances are, that noise is a problem and there are things you could do to remedy the situation. Start by fixing the small noises that you can fix and move on to bigger things from there. For the noise that you can’t eliminate find ways to reduce, absorb, and not make it worse than it already is.

Wall, ceiling, and floor covering can all have a significant impact on noise and its propagation. Window covering can have a significant impact on out side noise. And always consider the layout of an office. Group noise producing activities and noise producing employees. If one group of employees will spend a lot of time on the phone consider segregating them to a certain area, away from people who may need more focus.

Cubicle furniture is often designed with acoustical properties in mind and can have a significant impact on reducing echo and phone conversation noise. Avoid packing too many people in to a small area

Consider trying a white noise sound machine to reduce disturbances and boost productivity and drown out background noise that it is impossible to eliminate. White noise machines can be very effective where other methods fail and can eliminate the need for what can be costly remodels or makeovers of an office.