What actually happens in a noise at work assessment

A noise at work assessment sounds technical, but from your side it is straightforward. Here is what actually happens, from first contact to the report you can act on.

1. We measure your site as it normally runs

Nothing gets switched off or slowed down — measuring a quiet version of your floor would be pointless. A competent assessor takes calibrated readings across the workplace, machine by machine and area by area, and records how long people spend where.

2. We work out real exposure by role

Those readings become each person's daily personal noise exposure (L_EP,d), combining how loud each task is with how long they do it. A grinder operator and someone on a picking aisle get separate, honest figures — not one site average.

3. We identify where the action values are crossed

The assessment shows where exposure passes the 80, 85 and 87 dB(A) thresholds, and where Hearing Protection Zones are needed. A noise map, where commissioned, shows this spatially across the floor.

4. You get a plan you can act on

A written assessment sets out your real exposure levels, where the limits are crossed, what hearing protection actually achieves at the ear, and — importantly — what would bring the noise itself down. It is written to be read by the person who has to act on it, not filed and forgotten.

5. It is kept current

An out-of-date assessment is no defence. New machine, new line, new shift pattern or simply time passing — the 4-Year Care Plan re-measures and re-issues so the document keeps being true, at a price fixed on day one.