Description: This pocket guide tackles an aspect of construction that can cause the greatest damage to good relations with the general public. Excessive noise is also a significant hazard for site workers. The threat of restrictions and legal action from local authorities, the Health and Safety Executive and even private individuals, coupled with increasingly stringent legislative action, make noise a problem that must be taken seriously by site managers and supervisors. PR070 draws extensively on the code of practice incorporated in BS5228 and presents the guidance in clear, easily understood style. It considers the scale and nature of the problem, typical noise levels and units of measurement and summarises the scope of the two principal pieces of legislation effective in the UK: the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990. European directives and BS5228 are also covered. The main part of the guide looks at ways of predicting noise levels and provides simple formulas, with worked examples, for calculating the level of noise generated by different types of operation at various distances, taking into account the effects of screening and reflection. Examples are provided for both stationary equipment and mobile plant. The book concludes by giving guidance on the equipment, methods and frequency of measuring noise on site, and on ways of controlling it.

Keywords: health and safety