Hazardous Noise Producing Operations and Equipment

Citation
242 FW 3
Exhibit
1
Supersedes
242 FW 3, 11/20/08
Date
FWM
N/A
Originating Office
Safety Operations
Exposure to any of the operations or equipment listed below will likely require the use of hearing protection, unless it can be shown with actual noise measurements that operations produce Sound Pressure Levels (SPLs) of less than 85 dBA at the operator's ear. Those discharging firearms can expect impulse/impact noise in excess of 140 dB and must also use hearing protection. This list is not all-inclusive of operations and equipment that require hearing protection.

Agricultural tractors 

Airboats 

Aircraft

Air compressors (land or marine)

Backhoes/loaders 

Blasting

Cannon/rocket netting 

Chainsaws 

Circular saws and routers, handheld 

Cranes/drag lines 

Crawler dozers/loaders

Electrofishing units

Fire pumpers 

Firearm use

Fish egg sorters

Four-wheel drive loaders

Generators 

Hammering metal  

Heavy equipment

Lawn mowers 

Leaf blowers

Motor graders

Motorized scrapers

Pile drivers 

Pneumatic tools

Powered industrial trucks (fork lifts)

Propane exploiters 

Pumps and pumping stations

Skid steers/compact track loaders

Off-road utility vehicles (ATVs, snowmobiles)

Specialty tracked equipment (Marsh Masters, Gyrotracs, Roligons, etc.)

Watercraft operations

Weed whips (gas powered)

Wood chippers

Woodworking machinery, general

If operation of such equipment generates personal noise exposure levels (determined by noise dosimetry) exceeding 85 dBA for an 8-hour Time Weighted Average (TWA), then audiometric testing is required. Absent any personal exposure data (by dosimetry), the following table can be used as a guide in determining what the allowable exposure times might be if direct read noise measurements are known.

TABLE G-16 - PERMISSIBLE NOISE EXPOSURES (1)

Duration per day, hours / Sound level dBA slow response

8...........................90

6...........................92

4...........................95

3...........................97

 2..........................100

1 1/2 ....................102

1...........................105

1/2 .......................110

1/4 or less.............115