There are several excellent free downloads available from the WHO website including a WHO Global standard for ‘Safe Listening Venues and Events’. This comprises six key features designed to allow the audience to enjoy the music whilst protecting their hearing. These features include sound level limits, sound level monitoring, venue acoustics and sound systems, personal hearing protection, quiet zones and appropriate training and information.
In the UK, in terms of hearing preservation, the legislation is aimed at employers and employees, rather than at protecting members of the public. The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 detail very specific actions that employers need to take when employees are exposed to a noise dose of 80dB or above over an 8-hour working day. To help the music industry, the HSE has produced a very helpful free guidance document called ‘Sound Advice: Control of Noise at Work in Music and Entertainment’, which has chapters dedicated to specific sections of the music industry. Again, this focuses on the actions for employers, employees and the self-employed, but of course many of the recommendations will have a positive impact on the audience too.
One of the chapters in the HSE’s Sound Advice focuses on Music education, this is another key theme this year for the WHO – the protection of hearing for school children and young people. The UK advice is again focused on the employees in schools, the classroom music teachers and visiting instrument music teachers, rather than the impact on students themselves. However, there is a key message in ‘Sound Advice’ that encourages schools to pass on knowledge and information on hearing conservation to their students as part of their complete musical education.
The first place to start when looking at measures to reduce the risk of hearing damage within a school’s music department, is a noise risk assessment. This will allow you to identify the instruments, lessons, rehearsals and performances that create the greatest risk, and to look at who is most affected.
A full noise risk assessment will calculate employee personal daily or weekly noise exposures. These can then be compared to the action levels in the Control of Noise at Work Regulations, allowing you to fully understand the risks and the actions that need to be taken to reduce the risks. A school that leads by example with a good risk management culture within the music department will help ensure that the key messages on hearing conservation are passed down to the students too.
If you need any help with noise management in your workplace, please get in touch.