MEASUREMENT, ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF ENGINEERING NOISE CONTROLS

The primary and most effective means of reducing employee noise exposure and in-plant noise levels are achieved through the implementation of engineering controls. These controls may be addressed during the initial design stage, through retrofit of existing equipment, treatment of the paths along which sound energy propagates, and isolation of the worker(s). Specific services typically rendered include plant noise surveys to identify the sources of noise, analysis of the mechanisms generating excessive noise and exposure to personnel, and conducting feasibility studies and development of detailed recommendations for engineering control measures.

The noise control philosophy of Associates in Acoustics, Inc. is to work within the production and equipment operational constraints to initially design and recommend some form of source treatment. In effect, source modifications address the root cause of a noise problem, whereas enclosures, barriers and absorption material for a room's surface areas only treat the symptoms of a source. It is only after all potential source treatments have been exhausted or deemed infeasible, will we work toward controlling noise along the sound transmission path.