Hearing Protection Should Be Given More Importance by People Working in the Music Industry

Law of Noise in UK for the employersthere are two main types of noise that were set
Slow music is pleasant to ears but loud music thatup the legislation to take care of any damage to
irritates us is called noise. Every people in thisemployees. The first type is repeated noise that
world affected adversely by the noise pollutionincreases slowly and gradually but leads to
but the most affected are the working personspermanent hearing damage. This type of noise is
who work hard day and night and due to thischecked over a period of time, usually over a
noise not able to sleep well and have a properweek by making a consistent difference. The
relaxation of mind. This affects their work andsecond type of noise is very loud noise that leads
health and subsequently degrades theirto permanent hearing damage in a very short
performance. Recently government of Unitedtime or almost immediately. This type of noise is
Kingdom made a law that solves this problem andchecked by measuring the highest level of the
monitors the noise exposure of people at work.sound.
According to this there is a legal requirement forAfter making a record of the assessments the
all employers in the UK to provide protection fromsecond step is to take appropriate actions against
loud noises within the work place. On 6 April 2006,it. An initial measure is to reduce the noise
this law came into effect.machinery and provide the employees ear plugs
According to the law there are some basicof good level. Ear protection is done after
requirements for the employers to be fulfilled.consultation with the employees and whatever
First of all if the employees are exposed to loudthey thought the best type of protection.
noises in the working hours it is the duty ofAppropriate instructions and training must be
employer to make a noise risk assessment byprovided by the safety manager or an external
which any danger to their hearing can be identified.specialist. If the upper limit of exposure reaches
There must be complete guarantee of thisthe ear protection must be provided by the
assessment, either with the help ofemployer. In case of upper exposure limit "ear
measurements of noises in the premises of theprotection zones" must be marked in the places
organization, or any other reliable data. For thisand it is compulsory for everyone to wear ear
only those people that are proficient in riskprotection. It is also compulsory for the employer
assessment must be hired and their duty is toto provide health surveillance for the people who
keep records of these assessments. Anotherare at risk of hearing damage. The employees
requirement is that certain action must be takencan also have pre-existing hearing problems, so it
if the noise exposure exceeds the limits set byis a must condition for the employer to make
the legislation.arrangements for proper checking of the
There are different levels of noise exposures butemployees at the time of their joining.