Noise Evaluation in a Workstation of a Furniture Manufacturer Company

The present article demonstrates the evaluation of the noise of a workstation of a small furniture manufacturer, with the purpose of defining the amount of daily exposure that the workers are subject to, which the consequences of this exposure are and which measures must be taken to alleviate it. The workstation chosen for this analysis was the machining and it was used a digital sound level meter, class 2, for the measurements made. The device was used at a height similar to the height of the worker's ears and at the same distance as the one the worker is from the main sound source. This method allowed to find the measure for the equivalent continuous sound level (La,eq=85.6 dB(A)), the peak level of the sound pressure (Lc,peak=124 dB(C)), to calculate the daily personal exposure (Lex,8h=85.6 dB(A)) and to make a frequency analysis. After analyzing the results, it was concluded that there is a high risk associated with the workstation and that it should be taken contention, protection and prevention measures, in agreement with the Decree-Law n degrees 182/2006. Some other measures were also suggested, like the realization of annual audiometric exams and the mandatory use of hearing protectors, having also explained, by performing a frequency analysis, which hearing protectors best suited the employees in the workstation.