Tougher legs coming on noise
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• MUCH TOUGHER legislation about noise is on the way and industry seems largely unaware of this, Health and Safety Executive deputy directorgeneral told an USE conference on noise in the workplace.
"Clearly we shall need to help industry, not only to Comply with technical standards but also to change the attitude of both its employers and employees," he said.
"We in the HSE are hoping not for reluctant and last minute compliance with these sensible and much needed provisions, but we are looking for anticipatory action ; it is time that the sleepers in Britain industry woke up."
The European directive on the protection of workers from noise has a deadline of 1 January, 1990, for its implementation through regulations in Britain, Hammer said.
Behind these regulations comes the European Community Machinery Safety Directive with much more specific obligations on designers and suppliers as well as users, he said. For instance, machinery will have to be designed to reduce airborne noise to the lowest level taking account technical progress and the availability of means of reducing noise, in particular at source.
The deputy director-general explained that there will be detailed provisions concerning the provision of information about the level of airborne noise emissions from machinery, together with details of the operating conditions of the machine during testing and the methods of measurement.
"The HSE believes that it has not yet cracked the problem of awareness," he said. It has invited research proposals to study attitudes.