Protection from noise and vibration in the workplace

The health, well-being, and efficiency of an individual can suffer as a result of noise, as can occupational safety. High and persistent levels of noise pollution can cause work-related hearing impairment. This counts as one of the most common occupational illnesses.

Statutory provisions and standards form the basis for the measurement of exposure to noise and for noise-protection in the workplace and in work locations. They form the prerequisites for uniformly ascertaining the level of daytime exposure to noise and peak noise level in the workplace and for planning noise-protection measures. Considerable importance is attached to the German Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance on Noise and Vibration (LärmVibrationsArbSchV), which converts EU regulations into national law.

Müller-BBM Industry Solutions GmbH provides you with support and advice for compliance with this regulation. The following services will help you to reduce noise risk in stages, in particular, on a cost-benefit basis:

  • Measurement of noise at workplaces and machinery
  • Preparation of noise maps for work areas and factory buildings, noise-source registers for work locations and noise-reduction programmes
  • Noise abatement programmes
  • Ascertainment of exposure to noise for individual employees or groups of employees, e.g. based on noise maps and time spent or measurements made using noise-dosage meters
  • Recommendation for identifying noise areas
  • Advice on the selection of quiet machinery
  • Prediction of noise pollution when planning work locations (also using computer-supported calculation methods as specified in VDI 3760)
  • Ascertainment and assessment of acoustic parameters such as medium level decrease and degree of sound absorption in work locations
  • Elaboration of indoor acoustic measures for reducing noise pollution in work areas of factory buildings
  • Detailed planning of noise protection for machinery, plants and work locations
  • Definition of standards for personal hearing protection and consultation during the selection

The German Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance on Noise and Vibration also specifies threshold trigger values for daily exposure to hand-arm vibrations (HAV) and whole-body vibrations (WBV). Should these values be exceeded, it is the employer's responsibility to ascertain and monitor the hazards faced by its employees, and to implement the necessary preventive measures.

We provide you with consultation for the implementation of risk analyses as well as the elaboration of vibration protection measures. The services we offer include:

  • The implementation of vibration measurement using state-of-the-art technology in accordance with HAV as specified in the directives and VDI 2057-2 and DIN EN ISO 5349-2 standards and for WBV as specified in VDI 2057-1 and DIN EN 14253
  • The elaboration of programmes with technical and organisational vibration protection measures
  • Suggestions for technical solutions, e.g. low-vibration machinery, tools and vehicles

As an accredited testing laboratory, we carry out vibration measurements according to laboratory test procedures on hand-held and hand-operated devices in our Hand-Arm Vibration test bench.

Additional pages