What are the new noise regulations?
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 (Noise Regulations) and accompanying legal guide Controlling Noise at Work (HSE L108, ISBN 0717661644) have been available since October 2005. They came into effect for sectors other than music and entertainment on 6 April 2006, but had a two-year transitional period for music and entertainment sectors as defined. Thus the Noise at Work Regulations 1989 will be replaced by the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 on 6 April 2008. The regulations apply to workers but not to customers. They should not be used to address complaints about environmental noise or public nuisance. What are the main changes? There has been a shift towards focusing efforts on control measures. But in other ways the regulations are very similar to the Noise at Work Regulations 1989. The key change is that the two exposure action values at which an employer must take action are being reduced by 5dB(A) to 80dB(A) and 85dB(A). Where an employer has noise management
