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OSHA Adds New Chapter On NOISE to Technical Manual

Being Informed is Being Prepared.

OSHA just added and published a new chapter addressing noise to the OSHA Technical Manual.

This new chapter provides technical information and guidance to help Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) evaluate Noise hazards in the workplace. The content is based on currently available research publications, OSHA standards, and consensus standards.

Visit the Occupational Health & Safety Administration of law & regulations page of the United States Department Of Labor. Click here to visit OSHA website and access site documents & search list of OSHA standards. 

The New Noise Chapter is downloadable by clicking this link here.  You may also wish to download the OSHA inspection fact sheet by clicking here. View OSHA technical manual text & links by clicking here. 

Selective Recommend Documents made available to view &/or download below from OHSA site; 

View & Save The OSHA Field Technical Manual PDF below.
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You might also want to view or download  the copy of the OSHA Employers Rights And Responsibilities Handbook PDF.
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This New Noise chapter provides technical information and guidance to help Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) evaluate Noise hazards in the workplace.

The content is based on currently available research publications, OSHA standards, and consensus standards.

Click Here or Image To Download Noise Chapter

The chapter is divided into six main sections:

Introduction and background information about noise and noise regulations and an overview of noise controls.

• Worksite noise evaluations, including noise measurement equipment, noise evaluation procedures, and noise sampling.
• Investigative guidelines (including methods for planning the investigation) and outlines a strategy for conducting noise evaluations.
•  Noise hazard abatement and control, including engineering and administrative controls, hearing protection, noise conservation programs, cost comparisons between noise hazard abatement options, and case studies.
• References used to produce this chapter and resources for obtaining additional information.
• Appendices provide a glossary of terms, sample calculations, and expanded discussion of certain topics introduced in the chapter.

Hi Noise Reduction Innovation For Power Stations

Hi Aerodynamic noise control innovation technology;

New technology deployed at the largest US biomass power plant prevents creation of noise from fans while reducing power consumption.

The solution developed by the Industrial Noise and Vibration Center (INVC) from Berkshire, UK, relies on active noise reduction instead of suppressing the noise by silencers and acoustic enclosures.

“We have developed a way to prevent the noise being generated in the first place instead by designing aerodynamic inserts that fit inside the fan casing. You can think of these as akin to the aerodynamic features used on Formula 1 cars to control airflow,” said Peter Wilson, the INVC technical director.

The technology was installed at the 50 MW Schiller biomass power plant in New Hampshire - the largest biomass power plant in the US. The site had had problems due to the noise produced by the station’s ID fan. The installation itself only required 12 hours. According to a technical review evaluating the solution, not only noise reduction has been achieved but the plant  has also been consuming considerably less energy.

"We recorded a 10dB drop in noise, which is huge. We also recorded a reduction in the power used by the ID fan after Quiet Fan technology had been installed." said Jim Granger, the Senior Engineer at Schiller.

Conventional silencing technology to suppress the drone of large ID fans is rather costly and increases down-time of the installation. According to the evaluation data, the Quit Fan technology managed to achieve similar level of noise reduction costing about 80 per cent less.

How does the fan noise attenuating technology work?

A similar approach to that of the way that Formula 1 teams invest in the design of aerodynamic aids to control the airflow round their cars. As fan noise is the sum of the turbulence generated pressure fluctuations in the air shed by the blades, we have developed a range of aerodynamic inserts that are fitted inside the fan casing to smooth the flow. This reduces the pressure fluctuations – and hence the noise – at source without introducing the back-pressure often associated with silencers. This not only reduces the noise travelling down the intake and exhaust duct-work  but also that passing through the fan casing which may not only eliminate the need for silencers, but also the need for acoustic enclosures.

HVAC – Chiller – Condenser – Cooling Tower Noise Reduction:

Innovative new techniques developed to control the noise from HVAC and chiller / condenser systems without compromising efficiency. These typically provide around 10dB of additional attenuation compared with conventional noise reduction packages and silencers – and at a fraction of the cost.

Visit INVC Website for further information and to view case studies on noise reduction innovations.