How To Deal With Construction Noise?

How To Deal With Construction Noise
How To Deal With All The Construction Noise At Home There’s an awful lot of construction going on in Malta at the moment. Old, decrepit buildings are being torn down and hundreds of new ones are going up every year. All over Malta, construction is rife and new projects are being announced all the time.

The noise from a construction site is at best annoying and at worst completely disrupting. If you work or live next to a construction site, you’ll know the nightmare that is coping with the excessive noise. While there are laws in place that govern when construction can take place in Malta, these don’t really help if it’s happening right next to your office or apartment.

Legally, construction can start at 7am and go on until 8pm, with only a small break between 2 and 4pm! Even on Saturdays, you can be woken up at the crack of dawn by a drill. Sundays and public holidays are the only exceptions. Unlike noisy neighbours, whom you could probably ask politely to turn down their loud music, you can’t really ask the construction workers to stop doing their job.

Not unless they’re working outside of the legal hours, anyway. Almost everyone in Malta has been affected by construction noise at one point or another. If you’re someone who works from home, you’ll struggle to get anything done if your apartment is next to a construction site. Not only can the noise affect your work, but it can also affect your down time and your sleep.

So, how can you stay sane and deal with construction noise? Here are some tips to help you stop construction noise from disrupting your life:

How can you reduce noise pollution on a construction site?

Noise pollution is an invisible danger that affects millions of people each day. From loud rock concerts to highway traffic, noise pollution can take many forms. Construction-related noise pollution is one of these categories and can contribute to wide-ranging dangers such as elevated blood pressure in adults and disruption to the routines of local wildlife.

What are some examples of noisy activities on construction sites?

Controlling Noise – As mentioned above, construction site noise is varied and always changing, depending upon the activities taking place. Industrial noise often is predictable, since many industrial sites have noise characteristics that do not change from day to day.

  1. For example, a shop floor, which has production equipment and operates on a daily basis, has noise levels that generally do not change unless something in the production area changes.
  2. Such changes can range from the addition of equipment, to the changing of the materials being processed and produced, to machine malfunctions and changing of the workspace, such as the addition or removal of walls.
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Once the changes are made, the noise levels often return to a steady and predictable state. Noise during construction also may be more difficult to control and more difficult to ensure that hearing protectors are being used properly because of constant changes in location, the size of the construction site and the transience of the workforce.

  • These situations make construction noise just as hazardous as any other type of noisy environment, but far more challenging to remediate.
  • Noisy activities on construction sites include the use of jackhammers, dump trucks, cement mixers, cement cutters, electric saws, tamping machines and welding machines as well as noise generated from hand tools such as sledgehammers and drills.

The noise generated from these activities easily can exceed the OSHA limit of 90 dBA and require the use of hearing protection devices (HPDs). The noises may be continuous or they may be impulse noise where the noise created is of high intensity, but for a short duration.

Why is it so difficult to control noise during construction?

Objections to Wearing HPDs – Although noise levels on construction sites often can exceed 90 dBA, construction employees do not always wear hearing protection. Some of their most common complaints are that hearing protectors are uncomfortable, hot and create a situation where they cannot hear warning signals or fellow workers.

In addition to employees finding it a nuisance to wear the appropriate hearing protection, other common issues that prevent workers from wearing their HPDs are that they are not trained properly, do not have access to the appropriate HPDs or simply are unaware of the need for hearing protection. These objections must be overcome to protect construction workers’ hearing when noise levels exceed the limits allowed.

Appropriate evaluation and monitoring of the worksite, educational programs, training and adequate provision of HPDs can be a start to help make construction workers aware that many activities on the worksite have potentially hazardous noise levels. Because of the demographics of today’s workforce, employers should be prepared to provide training in several languages, if necessary.

  1. Training presentations can be purchased in various languages and can be used to fulfill some of the training requirements.
  2. Construction workers must be educated to the fact that once they lose their hearing, it does not come back.
  3. When possible, letting the employees have a hand in choosing the product helps with compliance because they are choosing a product that they are more interested in wearing.
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Selecting an appropriate device that does not overprotect the user also can alleviate concerns for hearing warnings and fellow employees. Many types of hearing protectors are available to meet employee needs in terms of both compliance and user acceptance.

How can baffles and attenuators reduce noise pollution on construction sites?

Substitution and isolation – As has been mentioned, and is quite obvious to the people working on construction sites, some noise (a significant portion) created on site is inevitable. It’s impossible to build a building or dig a tunnel without creating some serious noise.

The rise of capital and machinery in building has added to this noise; what used to be people with shovels is now a massive excavator. Even so, there have been a number of improvements in equipment and machinery technology and fueling which have made cleaner equipment which emit less noise and other types of pollution.

In saying all of this, where possible, construction workers and companies should attempt to substitute loud methods of work for quieter methods of work. While getting the job done and project progress usually take precedent of keeping site quiet, there is sometimes an alternate method of completing the same job which is quieter.

  1. Where possible, this method should be employed.
  2. The other things workers and companies can do about the type of work they do is isolate certain areas and equipment when loud work is being performed.
  3. Using noise control products such as baffles and attenuators helps dampen noise for both the workers and surrounding communities.

These controls are very easy to implement, and can make a tangible different to noise levels.

What is construction noise and how to reduce it?

Mitigating Noise with Equipment Controls – The most effective type of noise mitigation is to utilize, which involve managing a source of noise before it rises to offensive levels. Construction noise is commonly generated by stationary equipment and mobile equipment. The noise levels produced are based on how the equipment is operated and equipment characteristics.

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Using less noisy equipment is one of the most effective ways to reduce the noise caused by individual equipment.Utilizing muffler systems can help to reduce the noise from internal combustion engines.Physically attached shields are excellent for reducing noise on stationary equipment.In instances where piles are drilled or driven through water, bubble curtains may be the excellent solution. This solution dampens shock waves and helps to reduce the effects on oceanic life.Dampeners are effective at minimizing noise caused by vibration.Sound aprons are typically designed from absorptive mats that are draped on the frames attached to the equipment. The material can be constructed from PVC layers, lead-filled fabric, or rubber. Sound aprons are most useful when the equipment only needs partial shielding or has to be regularly movedEnclosures can be used for stationary work. The walls could be lined up with sound absorptive material to further dampen the sound.

How to mitigate noise with equipment controls?

Mitigating Noise with Equipment Controls – The most effective type of noise mitigation is to utilize, which involve managing a source of noise before it rises to offensive levels. Construction noise is commonly generated by stationary equipment and mobile equipment. The noise levels produced are based on how the equipment is operated and equipment characteristics.

Using less noisy equipment is one of the most effective ways to reduce the noise caused by individual equipment.Utilizing muffler systems can help to reduce the noise from internal combustion engines.Physically attached shields are excellent for reducing noise on stationary equipment.In instances where piles are drilled or driven through water, bubble curtains may be the excellent solution. This solution dampens shock waves and helps to reduce the effects on oceanic life.Dampeners are effective at minimizing noise caused by vibration.Sound aprons are typically designed from absorptive mats that are draped on the frames attached to the equipment. The material can be constructed from PVC layers, lead-filled fabric, or rubber. Sound aprons are most useful when the equipment only needs partial shielding or has to be regularly movedEnclosures can be used for stationary work. The walls could be lined up with sound absorptive material to further dampen the sound.

Do you have a construction noise mitigation plan posted?

Contact Premier Safety Partners – If you are in charge of a construction site, you are required to have a construction noise mitigation plan posted. The experts at are your health and safety professionals. We bring decades of experience helping construction site foreman and general contractors meet the various requirements of the respective municipality.