OSHA Guide: 90 dB for 8 Hours?

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html

Correct me if I'm wrong but is this guide saying you can be exposed to 90 dB for 8 hours a day. And it renews so you can be exposed to 90 dB for 8 hour again the next day.

 

Don't do it.

 

Oh no I'm just asking if this was what the guide is saying

 

All these charts seem to be different, one says 75Db, another is at 85Db, this one even goes as high as 90Db, very confusing.

 

Where I live it is forbidden by law to work 8h, or more, in a place with higher sounds than 85 dB without ear plugs or similar protection. Just sayin'

 

Same in the UK, the level at which it's mandatory to wear hearing protection in a workplace is 85dB (the 8 hour exposure limit), protection needs to available to staff at 80dB. That's a Europe wide rule, brought into legislation in 2005.

You can use it as a bit of a guide but I wouldn't recommend using it as your template for listening. Always pays to have breaks and use that sort of guide where you have to rather than as a personal measure.

 

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html

Correct me if I'm wrong but is this guide saying you can be exposed to 90 dB for 8 hours a day without earplugs?
And it renews after you rest your ears for the remaining day or 16 hours. Then the next day you can be exposed to 90 dB for 8 hour again? And this listening time gets renew every single day as long as you listen to 90 db for 8 hours and then rest for the rest of the day you can listen to 90 db for 8 hours again the next day?

And also 95 db for 4 hour is equal to 90 db for 8 hour, solistening to 95 db for 4 hours will cause the same amount of damage as listening to 90 db for 8 hours? And 100 db for 2 hours will give the same damage as 90 db for 8 hours. And 100 db for 2 hour gives the same damage as 95 db for 4 hours?

 

Kiev, it seems like you're really obsessed with the dB issue.

All of the guidelines are just ideas, and as you have noted, in some cases they contradict each other. For instance, the EPA guidelines are much stricter than the OSHA guidelines.

Anyone exposed to 85-90db a day, 8 hours a day, over a long period of time, will probably have some hearing loss as a result. However, some people who are not exposed to that noise, will still have hearing loss over a long period of time, because your body will break down and stop working well as you get old, no matter what you do to take care of yourself.

I think it's a better use of time to try to be happy and calm, than to obsess over the numbers. Protect your hearing, avoid loud noise whenever possible, and then beyond that don't think about it...

 

Can someone show me how to use or read the noise chart of 85 db 8 hours http://www.noisehelp.com/noise... Read detail for question?

For example the guideline allows me to listen to 91 db for 2 hours without earplug and if i rest for the remaining day or 22 hours i can listen to 91 db for 2 hours without earplugs again the next day..and repeat again the next day after etc ..repeat everyday for lifetime


Or if i choose to listen to 94 decibel then i get an hour of listening safely without earplugs, and i would rest my ears theremaining day or 23 hours and then i would be able to listen to it again next day. And repeat everyday for lifetime

And same thing i can listen to 94 db without earplugs safely for 1 hour a say and rest my ears the remaining 23 hours or the remaining day and i can listen to it again the next day, and repeat everyday provided after i rest my ears i can listen to it again.


And 94 db for 1 hour is equal to 91 db for 2 hour? So im receiving the same amount of noise dose and damage?

And 94 db for 1 hour is equal to 85 db for 8 hours? So same im receiving same amount of noise dose and damage

So essentially 91 db for 2 hours is equal to 85 db for 8 hours same damage amount?

And 94 db for 1 hour is equal to 85 db for 8 hours same noise dose and damage amount?

Im not trying to see how long i can listen to these loud sounds im trying to see how long when listening before i need to use earplugs

 

My advice is that even if you could measure your exposure so accurately (unlikely) do not trust those recommendations because you recently got tinnitus and so your ears are not in full health. After recent damage ears often seem more prone to further insults. I cannot back that up with scientific studies, only with my personal experience and a couple of years of reading others experiences on Tinnitus Talk.

Please do not trust the guidelines. They are not a guarantee and everyone is different.

 

Hi Keiv,
I would protect your ears if above 8odb and think the guidelines are 85 db for a work environment .

Its totally up to you when wear earplugs but also be aware sound thats really loud can cause problems with your ear and hearing and tinnitus through your Mastoid bone and permantly damage hair cells in your cochlear....lots of love glynis

 

I know that , I am not trying to see how long I can listen to these loud sounds. I am trying to use it as a precaution as when to use earplugs if I am exposed to loud sounds. Because I don't think I should be wearing earplugs if I just listen to 5-10 minutes of 90 decibels. You get me? So I trying to use the guide to get a sense of "WHEN it is appropriate to use earplugs "

 

Let say if you are around 85 decibel for about two hours according to the guide you dont need to use earplugs because it is still less than 8 hours right?
ike you would only use earplugs if it is 85 db for nearing 8 hours lets say you gonna be in it for 6 hours then you may want to use earplugs . But if it is just 1-2 hours then you dont need to according to the guide.

Also if you listen to 91 decibel according to the guide your safe for 2 hours. So if you gonna be in it for 20 minutes, then you dont need to use earplugs. But if you are near 2 hour lets say you gonna be in it for an hour or more then you use earplugs right?

And this guide is renews everyday meaning your listening time starts at 0 again the following day.

 

Yes, you've understood this guide, but it is only a very rough guide. Don't forget that once you've reached your maximum dB/hr rate, you'd have to be in completely silence (0 dB) for the rest of the day. The resetting probably isn't like pushing a button either. You won't suddenly have another eight hours at your disposal, just because the clock says it's midnight. It may depend on your genetic and how well you sleep etc. etc.

This 'guide' is actually more like a warning, saying "look, this is how easily your ears get damaged." My advice would be to not push it. Anything over 85dB means ear plugs.

 

Hi Kiev, I'm not an expert on this stuff, but I'm only advising caution. I agree with what walkthroughwalls says.

Everyone is different and if your ears were damaged approximately four months ago they may not be completely healed and up to full strength again to withstand the noise levels in the guidelines. That is my guess based on unhappy experiences in my tinnitus history.

I have never measured decibels, and believe that any measuring apparatus you use may be inaccurate to some degree, which makes using the guidelines safely even harder.

Sorry I cannot give you a clearer answer. This is a grey area.

Best wishes.

 

You can follow the guidelines if you choose EPA. I'll quote myself from another thread:

If I were you I'd follow EPA recommendation for rest of your life. Volume levels easily exceed 80db while in crowded bar/club with "low volume" music or driving at high way. EPA recommendation was designed so that if you follow it, it is likely that you won't have any measurable hearing loss over your lifetime.

Wrap up of sound level safety standards (including EPA): http://midimagic.sgc-hosting.com/spldose.htm