Occupational Noise Mapping in an Industrial Environment

Occupational noise is considered as one of the 10 major health problems worldwide, with a significant contribution to the emergence of diseases in the auditory system of workers. Some companies, due to the reduced budget, tend to neglect noise control, endangering the health of workers. It is important that there is an evolution of knowledge in the area, in order to make the measurement and prediction of sound level not only more effective but also more profitable economically. In this work, it is intended to begin the process of mapping one sector of an industrial unit. This analysis provided information about the potential and limitations arising from the use of this tool for studying the exposure of workers to excessive occupational noise. Initially, there was a general review of all company sectors and, based on the company's noise reports, the choice of the referred workplace was undertaken. It was found that the mixing sector compared with other sectors of the company, was one of the noisiest sectors. For the analysis of the sound level time and events was assessed. After modelling of the sector, simulation of results was carried out in order to get the sector's noise map. It was concluded that there are several noise sources, in addition to devices, that generally have influence on the sound level in workplaces. It was also possible to identify in some cases, the variation of the sound level over the production cycle. After simulation of the results in the mixing sector, there was a difference from 9 to 14 dB( A) between the simulated sound level and the sound level measured at check points. The difference may be due to several factors, such as deviations in measuring the sound level at the control point, precision used in the simulation results and the significant number of sound sources included in the developed models. This study contributed to the development of methodologies for the modeling of workplaces. Additionally, it allowed to acquire an overview of the major issues to be addressed in order to obtain a representative simulation of the real scene.