Eliminate or Reduce Noise

Comparing noise levels of tools

Comparing the noise levels of equipment and tool options doesn't take long and can save money over time. There are several ways to obtain noise data when purchasing new equipment:

• Check equipment specifications for information on noise levels.
• Ask the manufacturer for noise data if it is not already provided.
• Measure noise levels prior to purchase when possible.

Make sure you take noise measurements the same way for each piece of equipment. For each measurement, keep the sound level meter (SLM) microphone the same distance from the tool and record for the same amount of time.

What is Buy Quiet?

Buy Quiet is a prevention initiative which:

• Encourages companies to purchase or rent quieter machinery and tools to reduce worker noise exposure. This is accomplished when new businesses start up or when older equipment is replaced.
• Provides information on equipment noise levels, so companies can buy quieter products that make the workplace safer.
• Encourages manufacturers to design quieter equipment by creating a demand for quieter products.
• Buy Quiet is also a specific application of a broader NIOSH initiative – Prevention through Design (PtD).

Benefits of Buy Quiet

• Reducing the risk of hearing loss.
• Reducing the long-term costs of audiometric testing, personal protective equipment, and workers compensation. Conservative estimates provide $100 per dBA of savings when purchasing the quieter product. This savings is applicable across a wide variety of machinery and equipment.
• Helping companies comply with OSHA and other noise regulation requirements.
• Reducing the impact of noise on the community.

While noise control is necessary to protect workers from hearing loss in those industries, many companies do not have the financial resources or technical expertise to retrofit engineering controls for noise on equipment and machinery currently in use. Furthermore, quieting equipment during design and fabrication is more effective and economically-efficient than implementing noise controls after manufacture. Buy Quiet assigns the engineering decisions to the equipment designers and manufacturers and removes the complexity of noise control from the purchaser, renter or end user whose core business is not noise control.

Concurrent with protecting worker's hearing health, the Buy Quiet initiative aims to remove workers from legally mandated hearing conservation programs by reducing noise exposures to below 85 dBA for 8 hours. Hearing conservation programs incur costs associated with providing annual audiograms with follow-up to their employees, providing those employees appropriate hearing protection, accomplishing noise surveys in the workplace, and maintaining the appropriate recordkeeping to describe those activities. These hearing conservation programs are not as successful at protecting hearing health as noise reduction based programs.

While Buy Quiet is simple in concept, the tools necessary to implement it have been lacking. Noise level data for specific pieces of equipment or machinery have not been readily available for business owners and those purchasing equipment and machinery. Equipment manufacturers do not have a defined procedure in the U.S. for providing noise level data to consumers, and equipment purchasers do not have a centralized location where they can find these data. To solve these problems, NIOSH has led efforts to promote Buy Quiet initiatives and to encourage companies to implement Buy Quiet programs within their organization. Any company whose workers are subjected to hazardous noise.

Components of a Buy Quiet program

NIOSH encourages companies to start Buy Quiet programs. A model program could include:

An inventory of a company's existing machinery and equipment with respective noise levels

The company’s purchaser can use the inventory to compare the noise emission levels of differing models of replacement equipment prior to their purchase. The inventory is then updated as equipment inventories are expanded or newer quieter equipment is purchased to replace retiring worn out louder equipment. The inventory can also be used for facilitating, documenting, tracking, and promoting a company’s Buy Quiet purchase.

A Buy Quiet company policy or procedure

Company policy can be an easy and effective way for employers to show commitment to using the best available technology to protect the hearing and well-being of their employees. Levels of commitment may include:

• Buy Quiet Beginners: Commit to purchase replacement machinery that produces less noise than the original machinery.
• Mid-Range Level: Commit to purchase the most cost-beneficial piece of machinery available that produces less noise than the original machinery.
• Highest Level: Commit to purchase the quietest piece of machinery available regardless of price.

Educational materials and promotional tools

Educational materials and promotional tools designed to help inform their employees, management, customers, and the community about the importance and benefits of Buy Quiet. NIOSH developed a series of posters for construction companies to post at their worksites to communicate their organization's efforts and commitment to reducing noise levels in and around those worksites. View and print the posters here.

Analysis of the cost-benefit of Buying Quiet

Calculation methods can be used to determine return on investment and the true cost of purchasing one piece of equipment over another based on multiple factors; the cost of the quieter product, the cost to society, the business, and the individual if a significant hearing loss is incurred. In many cases, the quieter piece of equipment is the least costly alternative when all life cycle costs of the machinery, possible worker's compensation claims, costs associated with a company's hearing conservation program, costs of healthcare (such as hearings aids), and lost productivity are considered. Conservative estimates provide $100 per dBA of savings when purchasing the quieter product. This savings is applicable across a wide variety of machinery and equipment.

Buy Quiet example

A landscaping company that had been using gas-powered lawn care tools decided to evaluate battery-powered tools for landscaping tasks. The company tested the new battery-powered tools with Crew A, while Crew B continued to use the current gas-powered tools. Time-weighted average (TWA) exposure levels were collected from each crew.

Two landscaping crews at the same company

• Crew A: battery-powered equipment
• Crew B: gas-powered equipment

Approximate noise levels

• Crew A: 78-82 dBA TWA
• Crew B: 92-99 dBA TWA

What you can learn:

• The company found that battery-powered equipment can be quieter than gas-powered tools.
• NIOSH recommends employers enroll workers exposed to 85 dBA TWA in a hearing loss prevention program.
  • Because of their lower exposure levels, Crew A (battery-powered tools) may not need a hearing loss prevention program.
  • A hearing loss prevention program would be necessary for Crew B (gas-powered tools) because of their high exposure levels.

All other things being equal, battery-powered equipment appears to be a good solution for this company.