Measuring db over a working day

[JakeCTG]

Hi

 

I have just been working doing a rock a roll panto.

 

The tech department have just bought a very expensive db meter for measuring for when the new noise at work law's come in.

 

They were measuring over a show which was packed with songs the loudest peaking at 103 dbA.

 

And then they calculate an average for that day, which they calculated to be 84 db.

 

This seam's very quiet and is under the new reg's.

 

But surely having lots of songs mostly at 95 db can't be good for your hearing.

 

The first few weeks I worked without ear plugs and found that when I got home my ears were ringing which can't be a good sign.

 

Were they doing the measuring in the right way because from listening to the show you really need ear plugs over the 2 month run.

[Simon Lewis]

Does the sound level meter have a facility to measure A weighted Leq? If so, you could either leave it running for the whole show to get the event Leq, or you could run it for (say) 1 minute for each of the noisy activities in the working day, then calculate the overall noise exposure.

 

The fact that you mention "calculate" suggests that you may not have an integrating meter. If so, you can measure the A weighted sound pressure for the various events, and then add them correctly. I hope this isn't taken the wrong way, but are you sure they are calculating this correctly? It's not a simple arithmetic average.

If you want to check, there's a web based calculator here.

 

If you are experiencing ringing in your ears, then you need to wear hearing protection, whatever the meter says! Your line manager should also be made aware of what the noise levels are doing to your hearing,

 

Simon