Abstract

CARRERA, Gisela; SALGADO, Francisco  and  VILLACIS, William. Management of Occupational Exposure to Noise at the Technology Transfer Center for Training and Research in Vehicle Emission Control (CCICEV) of the Escuela Politécnica Nacional. Rev Politéc. (Quito) [online]. 2021, vol.48, n.2, pp.21-32. ISSN 2477-8990.  https://doi.org/10.33333/rp.vol48n2.02.

The objective of this research is to: identify the risk factors that may affect the hearing health of the CCICEV staff of the Escuela Politécnica Nacional, evaluate the risks and propose control measures that allow compliance with current regulations regarding the occupational noise exposure in Ecuador. The CCICEV determined that there is occupational overexposure to noise, since after carrying out the physical risk assessment, the equivalent daily A-weighted sound pressure level (Laeqd) in the technical area exceeds 85 dBA and in the administrative area is over 70 dBA. For this reason, control measures were proposed for the source, the medium and the receiver, according to the noise control hierarchy of the ISO 45001 standard; being included: for the cooling source, a soundproofing cabin; for the middle, acoustic absorption panels, as well as an acoustic cladding on the front façade of the offices; As administrative measures, passive or active breaks are proposed in places free of noise, turning off noise sources if they are not needed and alerting co-workers if noisy activity is going to take place; In addition, it is recommended to carry out a general plan of health and safety at work where health surveillance, training and information prevail, along with proper signaling, and for the recipient of the technical area, the use of hearing protection equipment is proposed.

Keywords : Noise; Physical Risk; Occupational Exposure; Industrial Hygiene; Hearing Health.

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