Hazardous Noise Producing Operations and Equipment

Hazardous Noise Producing Operations and Equipment

Exposure to any of the operations or equipment listed below will likely require the use of hearing protection, unless it can be shown with actual noise measurements that operations produce Sound Pressure Levels (SPLs) of less than 85 dBA at the operator's ear. Employees discharging firearms can expect impulse/impact noise more than 140 dB and must also use hearing protection. This list is not intended to be exhaustive.

Agricultural tractors 

Airboats 

Aircraft

Air compressors (land or marine)

Backhoes/loaders 

Blasting

Cannon/rocket netting 

Chainsaws 

Circular saws and routers, handheld 

Cranes/drag lines 

Crawler dozers/loaders

Electrofishing units 

Fire pumpers 

Firearm use

Fish egg sorters

Four-wheel drive loaders

Generators 

Hammering metal  

Heavy equipment

Lawn mowers 

Leaf blowers

Motor graders

Motorized scrapers

Pile drivers 

Pneumatic tools 

Powered industrial trucks (forklifts) 

Propane exploiters 

Pumps and pumping stations

Skid steers/compact track loaders

Off-road utility vehicles (e.g., ATVs, snowmobiles)

Specialty tracked equipment (Marsh Masters, Gyrotracs, Rolligons, etc.)

Trimmers (gas powered)

Watercraft operations

Woodchippers

Woodworking machinery, general

Employees must get audiometric testing if performing any of the operations or using the equipment described above generates personal noise exposure levels (determined by noise dosimetry) exceeding 85 dBA for an 8-hour Time Weighted Average (TWA). Absent any personal exposure data (by dosimetry), the following table can be used as a guide in determining what the allowable exposure times might be if direct read noise measurements are known.

TABLE 1 - PERMISSIBLE NOISE EXPOSURES