Background
Anderson Acoustics was commissioned by Costa Ltd to undertake a noise at work assessment in accordance with the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 for one of their biggest roasteries in Europe. The roastery located in Basildon requires this assessment as part of their biennial risk assessment.
The Challenge
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 document places a legal duty on employers to take specific action relating to the cumulative noise levels exposed to employees over a working day or week. The regulations also place a limit on the peak sound pressure level employees are exposed to.
Prolonged exposure to high levels of noise can potentially cause temporary or permanent hearing loss, if excessive. People often experience temporary deafness when exposed to noisy environments, this is known as a ‘temporary threshold shift’. However, regular exposure could result in permanent damage to the inner ear over time. Damage can also occur immediately if a person is exposed to very high-level impulsive noises (which can damage both in the outer and inner structures of the ear). As well as hearing loss, excessively loud environments can cause workers to develop tinnitus (ringing in the ears), which if severe, can lead to sleep disturbance and other health issues.
The Basildon roastery contains several roasting machines, coffee silos and packing machines that have the potential to generate high noise levels. The main concerns are related to potential excessive noise levels within the roastery when the machinery is in full operation and what influence that may have on the health of staff working within the premises.
What we did
Noise measurements were undertaken at positions representative of the user’s ear height in order to determine the current noise exposure on the staff throughout a typical day of production. Calculations took into consideration the time spent in each location of the facility including in the roasting, packing, and open production areas.
Key staff members involved in the survey included Shift Manager, Master Roaster, Packing Line Operative, Maintenance Engineer, Warehouse Operative, Laboratory Assistant and Quality Technician.
The measurements conducted during our survey include the noise emitted from all operational elements of the roastery machinery from the roasters, beans hitting the testing tray in the control room to forklifts in operation in the warehouse.
Costa Ltd also run 1-hour long tours at the roastery whereby members of the public are shown the full production cycle of the coffee, from the roasting through to packaging. Our assessment therefore also sought to determine the levels of noise exposed to those attending the tour, which was informed by measurements taken in locations representative to the proposed tour path.
Recommendations
Our Noise at Work assessment has provided insights into the noise levels encountered by staff members at the coffee production factory. To address potential risks of hearing-related injuries, recommendations were offered, including limiting proximity to specific roastery plant and offering suitable hearing protection.
Regarding the tour, we anticipate reduced noise exposure levels. However, for added comfort, personal hearing protection can be provided upon request during the tour experience.
