Noise is an inherent characteristic of the machine that every manufacturer is required to consider during the design phase.
Poor consideration of noise can lead to the manufacture of a product with high noise-related risks. This issue is addressed in Requirement 1.5.8 of Annex I of the Machinery Directive: “The machinery must be designed and constructed in such a way that the risks due to airborne noise emission are reduced to a minimum level, taking into account technical progress and the availability of means of limiting noise, in particular at source. The level of noise emission may be assessed by reference to comparative emission data of similar machines.”
Prolonged operator exposure to high noise levels causes fatigue and stress, permanent damage to the auditory system, deafness, and secondary hazards generated by difficulty communicating and/or hearing danger signals.
The Machinery Directive does not speak of operator exposure to noise, but of noise emission as an inherent characteristic of the machine itself. The latter, if detected under predetermined modes and conditions, can be treated as a technical characteristic of the product placed on the market.
On the other hand, operator exposure is a figure closely related to the use of the machine, and depends on the mode of operation, the installation environment, the characteristics of the workplace, the time the machine is used during the working day, and the noise produced by other sources in the environment).
The Machinery Directive does not impose limits on the noise emissions produced by machines, but it does require the utmost attention to minimize them already at the design stage. This leads the manufacturer to have to carry out a careful risk analysis related to this issue as well: a quiet machine is a product with a higher commercial value.
Directive 2006/42/EC also addresses how to declare machine noise data obtained from specific tests. These values must always be proven by a phonometric Test Report that must be attached to the machine’s Technical File.
The Test Report, in addition to reporting all measurements made, must ensure the “repeatability” of the results, and therefore must contain the technical test conditions, environmental conditions and uncertainties associated with the declared data.
At Advolo, we provide you with a team of experts who can help you with acoustic design coaching and Noise Test Reports for different types of industrial machinery. Please feel free to contact us for more information at the following email: commerciale@advolo.it
