Noise Hazard Assessment and Control

Title:	Noise Hazard Assessment and Control
Publication date:	6/24/2020
Effective date:	6/24/2020

BRIEF

Policy Summary

The Noise Hazard Assessment and Control Program at Berkeley Lab ensures personnel are protected from noise hazards by:

Evaluating potential noise hazards
Implementing noise-reduction controls where feasible and providing hearing protection
Performing periodic hearing examinations
Providing hearing-protection training and
Identifying high-noise areas with signage

Who Should Read This Policy

Berkeley Lab employees, visitors, affiliates, and subcontractors who could be performing work in or around high-noise sources

To Read the Full Policy, Go To:

The POLICY tab on this wiki page

To Read the ES&H Program Details, Go To:

ES&H Manual, Chapter 39

Contact Information

EHS Subject Matter Expert for Noise/Hearing Conservation
EHS Division

Title:	Noise Hazard Assessment and Control
Publication date:	6/24/2020
Effective date:	6/24/2020

POLICY

A. Purpose

The Noise Hazard Assessment and Control Program at Berkeley Lab ensures personnel are protected from noise hazards by:

Evaluating potential noise hazards
Implementing noise-reduction controls where feasible and providing hearing protection
Performing periodic hearing examinations
Providing hearing-protection training and
Identifying high-noise areas with signage

B. Persons Affected

Berkeley Lab employees, visitors, affiliates, and subcontractors who could be performing work in or around high-noise sources

C. Exceptions

Not applicable

D. Policy Statement

It is the policy of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to maintain work environments that will not adversely affect the health, safety, and well-being of Berkeley Lab workers. Other on-site workers such as construction contractors are required to have similar programs to protect their employees.

The Berkeley Lab Noise Hazard Assessment and Control Program requires the use of engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment to maintain employees' occupational noise-exposure levels below the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV); and requires compliance with California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) regulatory requirements. Employees exposed to noise levels at or above the ACGIH TLV will be enrolled in the Noise Hazard Assessment and Control Program.

E. Roles and Responsibilities

Role	Responsibilities
Workers	Request an exposure assessment when a concern is present regarding potential noise exposure, and follow all guidance provided in training and work processes to evaluate and control exposures
Supervisors and Work Leads	Request an exposure assessment when a concern is present regarding potential exposure; and ensure that persons within their areas of responsibility comply with this policy and its implementing documents, and have completed the required training prior to beginning work
Industrial Hygienist	Facilitates appropriate noise surveys and/or sampling
Health Services	Provides audiometric testing and maintains enrollment in the Noise Hazard Assessment and Control Program

F. Definitions/Acronyms

See the ES&H Manual Noise Hazard Assessment and Control program for technical terms related to the details of this policy and its implementation.

Term	Definition
ACGIH	American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
CCR	Code of California Regulations
Exposure Assessment	The process of defining exposure profiles and judging the acceptability of workplace exposures to environmental agents. These assessments may be quantitative, semi-quantitative, or qualitative. These assessments are generally conducted by an EHS professional, which may include industrial hygienists or safety engineers. These assessments may be conducted for representative employees and are not required to be conducted for each individual. In all cases, employees have full access to exposure monitoring information, including situations where an individual's exposure is not monitored.
Threshold Limit Value (TLV)	TLVs for noise refer to sound pressure levels and durations of exposure to which nearly all workers may be repeatedly exposed without adverse effect. These values are developed and published by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).

G. Recordkeeping Requirements

EHS is responsible for keeping records of the following:

Audiometric evaluation
Training records
Noise hazard evaluations
Exposure monitoring results

H. Implementing Documents

Document number	Title	Type
07.07.022.001	Noise Hazard Assessment and Control	Program
07.07.022.002	Work Process A, General Requirements	Process
07.07.022.003	Work Process B, Noise Monitoring and Hazard Assessment	Process
07.07.022.004	Work Process C, Controlling Nuisance Noise	Process
07.07.022.005	Work Process D, Controlling Hazardous Noise	Process
07.07.022.006	Work Process E, Audiometric Testing and Hearing Conservation Training	Process

I. Contact Information