Welding and grinding operations are one of the most important noise sources in industrial working environments. Prolonged exposure to high noise concentrations can damage ear drums and cause noise-related deafness. Besides personal suffering, this often means long term absences through illness or high costs as a result of permanent disability. In less serious cases, too much noise is often the cause of loss of concentration and consequently loss of quality and lower production volumes.
Too much noise also seriously disturbs communication on the shop floor which leads to mistakes. Studies have shown that noise pollution in training rooms leads to gaps in knowledge and even to educational errors.
The government has established maximum permissible noise level standards. The maximum noise level to which employees are exposed on the shop floor should be limited to the legal maximum noise level.
