A case study of construction noise exposure for preserving worker’s hearing in Egypt

Abstract

Every day, approximately half a million workers in the construction sector in Egypt are exposed to excessive noise. Noise is one of the most prevalent physical contaminants in the construction sector. The most negative effects of noise exposure are related to the hearing system and may produce occupational deafness or even permanent deafness. These effects have a very important influence on people’s health and well-being. The goals of this study are to carry out measurements to evaluate construction noise levels, which exceed the permissible level set by Egyptian noise standards and policy to protect the public health of workers, to assess noise exposure, and to develop controls for proposing preventive solutions. The noise levels to which the workers in the construction sector are exposed have been studied. A number of representative measurements have been carried out using a sound level meter and a dosimeter to collect data from workers devoted to different tasks in the construction process. The most important levels and indexes have been analyzed with those data.