Last data update: Sep 23, 2024. (Total: 47723 publications since 2009)
Records 1-4 (of 4 Records) |
Query Trace: Zechmann E [original query] |
---|
Noise exposure and hearing loss among workers at a hammer forge company
Brueck SE , Eisenberg J , Zechmann EL , Murphy WJ , Krieg E , Morata TC . Semin Hear 2023 44 (4) 485-502 The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) evaluated continuous and impact noise exposures and hearing loss among workers at a hammer forge company. Full-shift personal noise exposure measurements were collected on forge workers across 15 different job titles; impact noise characteristics and one-third octave band noise levels were assessed at the forge hammers; and 4,750 historic audiometric test records for 483 workers were evaluated for hearing loss trends. Nearly all workers' noise exposures exceeded regulatory and/or recommended exposure limits. Workers working in jobs at or near the hammers had full-shift time-weighted average noise exposures above 100 decibels, A-weighted. Impact noise at the hammers reached up to 148 decibels. Analysis of audiometric test records showed that 82% of workers had experienced a significant threshold shift, as defined by NIOSH, and 63% had experienced a standard threshold shift, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). All workers with an OSHA standard threshold shift had a preceding NIOSH significant threshold shift which occurred, on average, about 7 years prior. This evaluation highlights forge workers' exposures to high levels of noise, including impact noise, and how their hearing worsened with age and length of employment. © 2023. Thieme. All rights reserved. Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc. |
How to buy safer, quieter tools: a process management approach to reducing noise and hand-arm vibration while improving productivity and quality
Zechmann E , Geiger M , Beamer B . Synergist 2018 29 (1) 26-30 Powered hand tools have become essential to a range of industrial operations since Samuel Ingersoll invented the pneumatic drill in 1871. However, progress often comes with risk. Potential hazards associated with hand-held powered tool use include noise, hand-arm vibration, and a range of ergonomic stresses and physical safety hazards. Acute physical injuries from failure or misuse of the control or trigger mechanism are a particular concern, especially for products such as nail guns. At the same time, many companies using power tools fail to employ a process management approach to selection, procurement, and maintenance, or to educate users of these tools. This often results in unnecessary exposures to noise, vibration, and other physical hazards, as well as impaired productivity and quality. Because few purchasing groups are trained in safety, they are unlikely to consider the hazards and lifecycle costs associated with operating power tools. Efforts to promote purchasing of tools with lower lifecycle costs have failed due to a lack of regulatory criteria, misguided pressure to purchase the tools with the lowest initial costs, and poor understanding of hazardous exposures. Concurrently, safety and health professionals have often failed to influence the purchasing process. A purchasing and process management standard was needed to correct these failings and to stimulate the market conditions for manufacturing and purchasing of power tools that optimize productivity and minimize lifecycle costs. This article outlines a process management approach to the purchase of powered hand-held tools promoted in SAE International Standard AS6228, "Safety Requirements for Procurement, Maintenance and Use of Hand-held Powered Tools." |
The reduction of gunshot noise and auditory risk through the use of firearm suppressors and low-velocity ammunition
Murphy WJ , Flamme GA , Campbell AR , Zechmann EL , Tasko SM , Lankford JE , Meinke DK , Finan DS , Stewart M . Int J Audiol 2018 57 1-14 OBJECTIVE: This research assessed the reduction of peak levels, equivalent energy and sound power of firearm suppressors. DESIGN: The first study evaluated the effect of three suppressors at four microphone positions around four firearms. The second study assessed the suppressor-related reduction of sound power with a 3 m hemispherical microphone array for two firearms. RESULTS: The suppressors reduced exposures at the ear between 17 and 24 dB peak sound pressure level and reduced the 8 h equivalent A-weighted energy between 9 and 21 dB depending upon the firearm and ammunition. Noise reductions observed for the instructor's position about a metre behind the shooter were between 20 and 28 dB peak sound pressure level and between 11 and 26 dB LAeq,8h. Firearm suppressors reduced the measured sound power levels between 2 and 23 dB. Sound power reductions were greater for the low-velocity ammunition than for the same firearms fired with high-velocity ammunition due to the effect of N-waves produced by a supersonic bullet. CONCLUSIONS: Firearm suppressors may reduce noise exposure, and the cumulative exposures of suppressed firearms can still present a significant hearing risk. Therefore, firearm users should always wear hearing protection whenever target shooting or hunting. |
Identification of noise sources and design of noise reduction measures for a pneumatic nail gun
Jayakumar V , Kim J , Zechmann E . Noise Control Eng J 2015 63 (2) 159-168 An experimental-analytical procedure was implemented to reduce the operating noise level of a nail gun, a commonly found power tool in a construction site. The procedure is comprised of preliminary measurements, identification and ranking of major noise sources and application of noise controls. Preliminary measurements show that the impact noise transmitted through the structure and the exhaust related noise were found to be the first and second major contributors. Applying a noise absorbing foam on the outside of the nail gun body was found to be an effective noise reduction technique. One- and two-volume small mufflers were designed and applied to the exhaust side of the nail gun which reduced not only the exhaust noise but also the impact noise. It was shown that the overall noise level could be reduced by as much as 3.5 dB, suggesting that significant noise reduction is possible in construction power tools without any significant increase of the cost. |
- Page last reviewed:Feb 1, 2024
- Page last updated:Sep 23, 2024
- Content source:
- Powered by CDC PHGKB Infrastructure