Noise industry issues

Regulations aimed at protecting individuals from industrial noise pollution have been enforced in almost all industrialized countries. The noise caused in industries and the work place is generally taken as a serious issue. 

Noise emission from open-cast quarries and from industrial operations, such as lime kilns, is a complex issue. Various approaches have been adopted by different... 

Assay of pharmaceutical substances and formulated products is one of the most important and regulated activities in the pharmaceutical analysts laboratory. Regulatory authorities require strict validation standards to show that analytical assay methods are robust, accurate, repeatable, and suitable for their intended purpose. In the pharmaceutical industry, HPLC has dominated most analytical assay determinations and it is well established as the method of choice in most laboratories. In addition, pharmacopoeia monographs specify HPLC and titrimetric methods for the majority of pharmaceutical assays. To date, CE is not used extensively in QC work despite displaying excellent efficiencies, resolution, asymmetry factors, and signal-to-noise ratio. This is mainly due to the fact that CE can suffer from insufficient sensitivity and repeatability to control impurities in pharmaceutical substances at the levels required. These issues have been addressed somewhat with sensitivity... 

Sound is an important aspect of work environment, but those unnecessary sound forms noise that is harmful to workers physical and mental health. Particularly with the development of modern industry, and the advancement of science and technology, more and more high-power and high-speed mechanical equipments are used for coal production, and the noise pollution becomes increasingly serious in coal mines, thereby the influence of noise on people has become an important social issue (Cheng Zhu 1998, Shao Wang 2004, Shao Wang 2008). 

The main issues of diseussion at the final meeting concerned the techniques for the collection and treatment of off-gas, the minimisation of fugitive emissions, noise reduction, the role of enviromnental considerations in teehnieal ehoiees and the BAT associated emission levels. For some proeesses, mainly in the field of non-ferrous metal melting, the information was ineomplete and therefore no BAT AEL eould be agreed. During the meeting, there was little diseussion on the teehniques that are speeifie for non-ferrous foundries, partially due to the absenee of industry experts in this field. 

Noise/hearing conservation — Occupational exposures to noise levels in excess of the current OSHA standards places hundreds of thousands of workers at risk of developing hearing impairment, hypertension, and elevated blood pressure levels. Workers in construction are not fully covered by the current OSHA standards and lack the protection of an adequate program. OSHA has designated this issue as a priority for rulemaking action to extend hearing conservation protection to the construction industry. 

Public Exposures Public exposures to noise come from traffic, industry, recreation, construction, airports, and other sources. The noise sources create a variety of public issues as discussed in Section 23-4. The U.S. EPA identified the noise levels that impact public health and welfare, but left setting standards and enforcement of public noise to state and local governments. In the U.S. there are hundreds of state and local laws and ordinances on noise. 

Construction and Traffic Noise Control. Outdoor construction noise in cities is being contained by sound curtains, flexible noise-reducing curtains connected with Velcro seals, which enclose the job site. These curtains block exterior noise and absorb noise created within the curtains. Typically the curtains reduce noise by 10 to 15 dB. In the European Union, a large consortium of leading industries, named Euro Noise Control, has formed to address noise issues and offer solutions by manufecturing means of reducing noise in urban areas. 

MDS Nordions Theratronics division deals with more conventional workplace safety issues in its industrial operations. Here there are hazards related to operating power tools, handling heavy materials or hazardous chemicals, and maintaining acceptable noise levels. Through the 1990s, Theratronics has steadily improved its workplace safety record, achieving its lowest-ever rate of safety-related incidents. 

Although neither OSHAs occupational noise exposure regulation nor the powered industrial truck standard address the use of headphones in the workplace, OSHA has issued Letters of Interpretations that do not recommend the practice. A major concern for a forklift operator is that the operator will increase the volume of the headphones high enough to drown out workplace noise. This can result in the operator not hearing alarms and shouted warnings, as well as exposing him/herself to noise levels that exceed the OSHA permissible exposure levels. 

---