David Schutt, Tiffany Lipsey, Mike Van Dyke, William J Brazile
{"title":"Daily noise dose and power tool characterization of steel stud framers on commercial construction sites.","authors":"David Schutt, Tiffany Lipsey, Mike Van Dyke, William J Brazile","doi":"10.1093/annweh/wxaf005","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The construction industry is well-documented as having numerous sources of hazardous noise on the job. Framers who cut and install steel studs on commercial construction sites use a variety of power tools throughout the course of their normal workday and have the potential to be exposed to levels of noise that can lead to occupational noise-induced hearing loss. This study assessed the noise dose of commercial steel stud framers and characterized the noise of common power tools that contribute to their daily noise dose. Occupational exposure limits exist in both required and recommended forms to protect workers; however, large differences in the level of worker protection are apparent between the mandated Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) and the voluntary National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit (REL) for noise exposure. Steel stud framers in this study had a mean OSHA PEL dose of 27.6% and a mean NIOSH REL dose of 340.7% for the same workers. As a comparison, ambient equivalent noise doses at the construction site were 1.4% for PEL criteria and 12.4% for REL criteria. Of task assignments during the workday, workers who were assigned primarily as saw operators had statistically significant higher noise exposures than workers who were assigned as stud installers (P = 0.037). Octave band analysis was conducted for full-day exposures and indicated an upward trend of higher noise exposures at higher frequencies. Overall, among all steel stud framers involved in this study, all workers had noise doses below the OSHA PEL (range 5.8% to 61.4%), and all but 2 workers (n = 35) had noise doses above the NIOSH REL (range 63.9% to 823.2%), indicating exposure to hazardous levels of noise based on more protective RELs.</p>","PeriodicalId":8362,"journal":{"name":"Annals Of Work Exposures and Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals Of Work Exposures and Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/annweh/wxaf005","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The construction industry is well-documented as having numerous sources of hazardous noise on the job. Framers who cut and install steel studs on commercial construction sites use a variety of power tools throughout the course of their normal workday and have the potential to be exposed to levels of noise that can lead to occupational noise-induced hearing loss. This study assessed the noise dose of commercial steel stud framers and characterized the noise of common power tools that contribute to their daily noise dose. Occupational exposure limits exist in both required and recommended forms to protect workers; however, large differences in the level of worker protection are apparent between the mandated Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) and the voluntary National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit (REL) for noise exposure. Steel stud framers in this study had a mean OSHA PEL dose of 27.6% and a mean NIOSH REL dose of 340.7% for the same workers. As a comparison, ambient equivalent noise doses at the construction site were 1.4% for PEL criteria and 12.4% for REL criteria. Of task assignments during the workday, workers who were assigned primarily as saw operators had statistically significant higher noise exposures than workers who were assigned as stud installers (P = 0.037). Octave band analysis was conducted for full-day exposures and indicated an upward trend of higher noise exposures at higher frequencies. Overall, among all steel stud framers involved in this study, all workers had noise doses below the OSHA PEL (range 5.8% to 61.4%), and all but 2 workers (n = 35) had noise doses above the NIOSH REL (range 63.9% to 823.2%), indicating exposure to hazardous levels of noise based on more protective RELs.
期刊介绍：
About the Journal
Annals of Work Exposures and Health is dedicated to presenting advances in exposure science supporting the recognition, quantification, and control of exposures at work, and epidemiological studies on their effects on human health and well-being. A key question we apply to submission is, "Is this paper going to help readers better understand, quantify, and control conditions at work that adversely or positively affect health and well-being?"
We are interested in high quality scientific research addressing:
the quantification of work exposures, including chemical, biological, physical, biomechanical, and psychosocial, and the elements of work organization giving rise to such exposures;
the relationship between these exposures and the acute and chronic health consequences for those exposed and their families and communities;
populations at special risk of work-related exposures including women, under-represented minorities, immigrants, and other vulnerable groups such as temporary, contingent and informal sector workers;
the effectiveness of interventions addressing exposure and risk including production technologies, work process engineering, and personal protective systems;
policies and management approaches to reduce risk and improve health and well-being among workers, their families or communities;
methodologies and mechanisms that underlie the quantification and/or control of exposure and risk.
There is heavy pressure on space in the journal, and the above interests mean that we do not usually publish papers that simply report local conditions without generalizable results. We are also unlikely to publish reports on human health and well-being without information on the work exposure characteristics giving rise to the effects. We particularly welcome contributions from scientists based in, or addressing conditions in, developing economies that fall within the above scope.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
