by jbs031610 d3 — March 19, 2010—The U.K.’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched an initiative to encourage manufacturers to make quieter machinery and businesses to use it, in a bid to reduce noise-related ill health in the workplace. According to HSE, 170,000 people in the U.K. suffer deafness, tinnitus or other ear conditions as a result of exposure to excessive noise at work.
The “Buy Quiet” campaign is designed to get everyone with an interest — manufacturers, suppliers, employers, unions, insurers and consultants — to consider what they can do to reduce the risk. HSE would particularly like to foster closer relationships with manufacturers to see how noise reductions can be made at the source.
A workshop at the beginning of the campaign included information on the legal requirements associated with noise emissions, the commercial considerations of producing low noise machinery, and help for employers to identify and manage risks of exposure to excessive noise in the workplace.
For more information see HSE’s Noise at Work Web site.
