Protection of workers from risks caused by loud sound fields. Comparison between the European and the United States standards

Workers protection from risk arising from prolonged exposure to loud acoustic fields plays a key role in the safeguard of people physical and mental wellbeing. In workplaces, depending on level and time of exposition, annoyance or permanent damage may occur. Furthermore, other parameters such as impulsive events, spectral composition, and phenomenon variability can influence the hazard connected to the sound and can, eventually, reduce protection. Among the most evolved systems used to ensure workers protection from noise, there are the European and the United States Standards. In Europe, safeguard is ensured through Directive 2003/10/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 6th, 2003. It supplies the minimum health requirements to assure health-care and protection from loud sounds to those workers who are exposed to noise as a result of their work. In the United States, the OSHA Standard number 1910, subpart G "Occupational Safety and Environmental Control" regulates the procedures. In this work, noise produced in different work activities is measured using dosimeters and real-time analyzers. The results are then analyzed using the two different Directives to show whether they supply different protection levels and to highlight possible weaknesses in the individuation of protection from loud sounds.