Survey of noise levels in wood workshops in Morogoro Municipal, Tanzania

Abstract

This study was done in wood workshops in Morogoro municipal to survey noise exposure levels and woodworkers attitudes toward noise hazards. Five woodworking shops which constitute about 17% of the registered ones were randomly selected. Sound exposure level for workers was assessed using sound level meter. It was found that, more than 67% of the 80 measurements done exceeded noise exposure levels allowed by Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and World Health Organization (WHO) standards. The mean exposure level for all workshops was 86.8±2 dBA which WHO recommends exposure duration of not more than 45 minutes per day. Sixty percent of the workshops had more than 5% of the measurements exceeding 90dBA which WHO standard restricts workers exposure duration to less than 15 minutes. It was further observed that 62.3% of the workers in the surveyed workshops had positive attitudes toward safety and accepted that noise protective equipments were necessary. Surprisingly, only 14.1% wear protectors regularly while 48.2% complained that they reduce their working efficiency. The rest (37.7%) indicated that protectors were not available in their workshops. These results imply that most workers were exposed to noise levels which can cause hearing impairment. Additional study of this potential occupation health problem is recommended in order to fully characterize the risk and guide the development of the effective risk management strategies.

Keywords: sound exposure level, workers, hearing impairment