The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005

Type Statutory-Instrument
Publication 2005-06-18
Last updated 2020-12-31
State In force
Department King's Printer of Acts of Parliament
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Made: 18th June 2005

Laid before Parliament: 28th June 2005

Coming into force: 6th April 2006

The Secretary of State, in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 15(1), (2), and (5), and 82(2) and (3) of, and paragraphs 1(1)(a) and (c), 8(1), 9, 11, 13(2) and (3), 14, 15(1), 16 and 20 of Schedule 3 to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (“the 1974 Act”) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, for the purpose of giving effect without modifications to proposals submitted to him by the Health and Safety Commission under section 11(2)(d) of the 1974 Act after the carrying out by the said Commission of consultations in accordance with section 50(3) of that Act, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 and shall come into force on 6th April 2006, except that—

Interpretation

2

Application

3

Exposure limit values and action values

4

Assessment of the risk to health and safety created by exposure to noise at the workplace

5

and the employer shall assess whether any employees are likely to be exposed to noise at or above a lower exposure action value, an upper exposure action value, or an exposure limit value.

and where, as a result of the review, changes to the risk assessment are required, those changes shall be made.

Elimination or control of exposure to noise at the workplace

6

Hearing Protection

7

and shall ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that no employee enters that area unless that employee is wearing personal hearing protectors.

and shall comply with any legal requirement which is applicable to them.

Maintenance and use of equipment

8

Health Surveillance

9

Information, instruction and training

10

Exemption certificates from hearing protection

11

Exemption certificates for emergency services

12

Exemptions relating to the Ministry of Defence

13

Extension outside Great Britain

14

These Regulations shall apply to and in relation to any activity outside Great Britain to which sections 1 to 59 and 80 to 82 of the 1974 Act apply by virtue of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application Outside Great Britain) Order 2001 as those provisions apply within Great Britain.

Revocations, amendments and savings

15

for the reference in each case to the Noise at Work Regulations 1989 there shall be substituted a reference to these Regulations.

SCHEDULE 1

PART 1 — Daily Personal Noise Exposure Levels

1

The daily personal noise exposure level, LEP,d, which corresponds to LEX,8h defined in international standard ISO 1999: 1990 clause 3.6, is expressed in decibels and is ascertained using the formula:

2

If the work is such that the daily exposure consists of two or more periods with different sound levels, the daily personal noise exposure level (LEP,d) for the combination of periods is ascertained using the formula:

PART 2 — Weekly Personal Noise Exposure Levels

The weekly personal noise exposure, LEP,w, which corresponds to

$L ¯ E X , 8 h$

defined in international standard ISO 1999: 1990 clause 3.6 (note 2) for a nominal week of five working days, is expressed in decibels and is ascertained using the formula:

$$L E P , w = 10 log 10 [ 1 5 ∑ i = 1 i = m 10 0.1 ( L E P , A ) i ]$ where— m is the number of working days on which the person is exposed to noise during a week; and (LEP,d)i is the LEP,d for working day i.$

SCHEDULE 2 — Peak Sound Pressure Level

Peak sound pressure level, LCpeak, is expressed in decibels and is ascertained using the formula:

$$L Cpeak = 20 log 10 [ p Cpeak p 0 ]$ where— pCpeak; is the maximum value of the C-weighted sound pressure, in Pascals (Pa), to which a person is exposed during the working day; and p₀ is 20 µPa.$

SCHEDULE 3 — Revocations

Regulations revoked References Extent of revocation
The Noise at Work Regulations 1989 S.I. 1989/1790 The whole Regulations
The Quarries Regulations 1999 S.I. 1999/2024 Schedule 5 Part II insofar as it amends regulation 2 of the Noise at Work Regulations 1989
The Offshore Electricity and Noise Regulations 1997 S.I. 1997/1993 Regulation 3
The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 S.I. 1992/2966 Schedule 2 Part IX
The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 S.I. 1996/341 Schedule 3 Part II paragraph 1(a) and (b)
The Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc.) Regulations 1996 S.I. 1996/913 Schedule 1 paragraph 46(b) and the word “noise” in paragraph 59(b)

Signed

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State

Philip A.Hunt — Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State — Department for Work and Pensions — 2005-06-18

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

1These Regulations revoke and replace the Noise at Work Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989/1790), and implement as respects Great Britain Directive 2003/10/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L42, 15.2.2003, p.38) on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (noise) (seventeenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC). The Regulations impose duties on employers and on self-employed persons to protect both employees who may be exposed to risk from exposure to noise at work and other persons at work who might be affected by that work.

2The Regulations make provision for—alower exposure action values, upper exposure action values, and exposure limit values for daily or weekly personal noise exposure and for peak sound pressure (regulation 4);brisk assessment (regulation 5);celimination or, where elimination is not reasonably practicable, reduction of exposure to noise to as low a level as is reasonably practicable (regulation 6(1));da programme of measures, excluding the provision of personal hearing protectors, to be taken at the upper exposure action values to reduce exposure to noise to as low a level as is reasonably practicable (regulation 6(2));eactions to be taken at the exposure limit values and prohibition on exceeding the exposure limit values (regulation 6(4));fthe provision of personal hearing protectors upon request at the lower exposure action values and compulsorily at the upper exposure action values (regulation 7(1) and (2));gthe designation in the workplace of Hearing Protection Zones (regulation 7(3));hemployers'; and employees' duties concerning the use of equipment, including personal hearing protectors, provided under the Regulations (regulation 8);ihealth surveillance (regulation 9);jinformation, instruction and training (regulation 10);kpower to the Health and Safety Executive to grant exemptions from regulation 6(4) and regulation 7(1) and (2) in specified circumstances (regulation 11);lpower to the Health and Safety Executive to grant exemptions from regulation 6(4) and regulation 7(1) to (3) in respect of the activities of emergency services (regulation 12);mpower to the Secretary of State for Defence to grant exemptions from regulation 6(4) and regulation 7(1) to (3) in respect of activities carried out in the interests of national security (regulation 13); andnconsequential revocations and amendments (regulation 15 and Schedule 3)).

3The Regulations provide for transitional periods for the commencement of their operation as follows—afor the music and entertainment sectors only they shall not come into force until 6th April 2008 and the provisions listed for amendment and revocation in regulation 15 and Schedule 3 shall remain in force unaltered until that date (regulations 1(a) and 15(3)); andbwhere, despite regulation 3(4), they apply to the master and crew of a seagoing ship, regulation 6(4) only shall not come into force until 6th April 2011 (regulation 1(b)).

4Copies of International Standard ISO 1999: 1990, referred to in Schedule 1, are available from International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 1 Rue de Varembé, Case Postale 56, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, or via Internet at www.iso.org.

5A copy of the regulatory impact assessment in respect of these Regulations can be obtained from the Health and Safety Executive, Economic Advisers Unit, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS. A copy of the Transposition Note in relation to the implementation of Directive 2003/10/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council can be obtained from the Health and Safety Executive, International Branch, at the same address. Copies of both these documents have been placed in the libraries of each House of Parliament.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1974 c. 37; sections 11(2), 15(1) and 50(3) were amended by the Employment Protection Act 1975 c. 71, Schedule 15, paragraphs 4, 6 and 16(3) respectively.

[^f00002]: S.I. 1998/494, as amended by S.I. 1999/3232, S.I. 1999/2024, S.I. 2002/2675, and S.I. 2004/3168.

[^f00003]: S.I.1999/3242, as amended by S.I. 2003/2457.

[^f00004]: S.I. 1996/341.

[^f00005]: S.I. 2001/2127.

[^f00006]: S.I. 1992/2966.

[^f00007]: S.I. 1998/2306.

[^f00008]: S.I. 1989/1790.

The weekly personal noise exposure, LEP,w, which corresponds to

defined in international standard ISO 1999: 1990 clause 3.6 (note 2) for a nominal week of five working days, is expressed in decibels and is ascertained using the formula:

Peak sound pressure level, LCpeak, is expressed in decibels and is ascertained using the formula:

Editorial notes

[^c13315921]: 1974 c. 37; sections 11(2), 15(1) and 50(3) were amended by the Employment Protection Act 1975 c. 71, Schedule 15, paragraphs 4, 6 and 16(3) respectively.

[^c13315941]: S.I.1999/3242, as amended by S.I. 2003/2457.

[^c13315951]: S.I. 1996/341.

[^c13315961]: S.I. 2001/2127.

[^c13315971]: S.I. 1992/2966.

[^c13315981]: S.I. 1998/2306.

[^c13315991]: S.I. 1989/1790.

[^key-5aa1f01fcf68403040c193b6ce10a530]: Words in reg. 7(4) added (6.4.2009) by The Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments and Revocations) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/693), reg. 1, Sch. 1 para. 5

[^key-8aa7e7edbb3299ba0fa773c3951c2ca7]: Words in reg. 2(1) substituted (1.4.2014) by The Energy Act 2013 (Office for Nuclear Regulation) (Consequential Amendments, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/469), art. 1(2), Sch. 3 para. 125 (with Sch. 4)

[^key-bdb2a65db75a666be794cebb88c4d47a]: Reg. 3(3A) inserted (1.10.2015) by The Deregulation Act 2015 (Health and Safety at Work) (General Duties of Self-Employed Persons) (Consequential Amendments) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/1637), art. 1, Sch. para. 10(b)

[^key-5c7753b8ced6f3cc70e1ca4b14bb3d72]: Words in reg. 3(3) substituted (1.10.2015) by The Deregulation Act 2015 (Health and Safety at Work) (General Duties of Self-Employed Persons) (Consequential Amendments) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/1637), art. 1, Sch. para. 10(a)

[^key-42aee2d21105066e99c9c44dcb7b3ed6]: Words in reg. 2(1) substituted (16.10.2015) by The Office of Rail Regulation (Change of Name) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/1682), reg. 1(2), Sch. para. 10(j)

[^key-5b96f5697f36f7ad75bffec8eaa524ab]: Reg. 7(5) inserted (21.4.2018) by The Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/390), reg. 1(1), Sch. 5 para. 7(b) (with reg. 2(1)-(3))

[^key-84f8b8bc37280837dcc7ea29332a09df]: Words in reg. 7(4) substituted (21.4.2018) by The Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/390), reg. 1(1), Sch. 5 para. 7(a) (with reg. 2(1)-(3))

[^key-0ae5b3a4621ae53aa55bf8f0dd40bfde]: Words in reg. 7(5) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/696), reg. 1, Sch. 35 para. 2(7) (as amended by S.I. 2020/676, regs. 1(1), 2, 3); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

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