Grounds for Change: Reducing Noise Exposure in Grounds Management Professionals – Part 1

Posted on by Jackie DiFrancesco BA, COHC; Asha Brogan and Bryan Beamer PhD, PE, CSP

While the dog days of summer mean slowing down for some people, sunshine brings the busy season for those in the grounds management professions, which includes landscaping, tree care and horticulture. This summer work means breaking out tools that can create loud noise: lawn mowers, edgers, chainsaws, chippers — just to name a few. This noise is more than just an annoyance, it can create long-term health effects including hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and even cardiovascular issues [Babisch 2011; Kerns et al. 2018]. This two-part blog series provides basic information for grounds management professions about how to identify dangerous levels of noise exposure and what to do to protect themselves and others from the harmful effects of noise.

 

What’s the problem?

Chronic noise exposure can lead to tinnitus and/or hearing loss. These effects are sometimes experienced as a temporary response after a period of loud noise. Many people have come home from a concert or other loud event with muffled hearing and their ears ringing, only to wake up the next morning feeling back to normal. These symptoms, while temporary, are an indication that damage is occurring inside the ear. Repeated loud noise exposure over weeks, months or years can eventually lead to permanent damage. For landscapers, or other grounds management professionals, who are regularly using noisy tools on the job, the tinnitus may become constant. The effects of living with chronic tinnitus can range from annoying to completely debilitating. Repeated noise exposure can also lead to permanent hearing loss. Hearing loss has lifelong effects which can include difficulty communicating, increased risk of injury on the job, and mental health issues like anxiety and depression [Arlinger 2003].

Who is affected?

An estimated 912,360 people in the U.S. are employed as landscapers or groundskeepers, with another 100,320 employed as first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service and grounds keeping workers [BLS 2017]. For these people who regularly use tools that create hazardous noise, hearing loss can be a real concern. Landscapers and groundskeepers are not alone; each year approximately 22 million workers in the U.S. are exposed to potentially damaging noise [Kerns et al. 2018]. Hearing loss is considered one of the most common occupational injuries in the United States, and carries high personal and societal cost and yet it is preventable.

What is a safe level of noise?

Sound level is measured in decibels (dB). Workplace sound levels are usually “A-weighted” (dBA), which takes into account the sensitivity of the human ear. A whisper is about 30 dBA, a normal conversation is about 60 dBA, and a jackhammer is about 130 dBA. Noise is considered hazardous when it is 85 dBA or above [NIOSH 1998]. If you must raise your voice when talking to someone about 3 feet away, the noise level is probably at least 85 dBA. You can download a sound measurement app to your smartphone to check noise levels, such as the NIOSH Sound Level Meter App.

How loud are noise levels in the grounds management industry?

A recent study by Balanay et al. [2016] looked at noise exposure among university groundskeepers. They measured the sound levels of several common landscaping tools and found that many produced a maximum level higher than 85 dBA. Table 1 shows some of the tools and levels they measured; the ranges are from different models of the same type of equipment.

 

Tool Noise Level (dBA)
Push Mower 86-92
Riding Mower 88-96
Leaf blower 95-106
Edger 98-106
Chipper 102-106
Chainsaw 105-109
Table 1. Tool maximum levels by type from Balanay et al. [2016].

 

Operating tools that are louder than 85 dBA can make communicating on the job difficult and create a safety hazard. Repeated exposure to loud noise can create lifelong health issues. Negative effects of noise exposure are preventable if you know how and when to implement effective noise reduction strategies. It is important for those operating loud tools, and their managers, to be aware of these health risks, and potential solutions. Explore the NIOSH noise and hearing loss page to learn more about hazardous noise levels and your health. Check back next week for Part 2 of this series to learn strategies to reduce your noise exposure.

 

Jackie DiFrancesco BA, COHC, is a PhD candidate at the University of Connecticut and a summer fellow in the NIOSH  Division of Applied Research and Technology.

Asha Brogan is an ORISE fellow in the NIOSH  Division of Applied Research and Technology.

Bryan Beamer PhD, PE, CSP, is  a research engineer in the NIOSH  Division of Applied Research and Technology.

 

References

Arlinger S [2003]. Negative consequences of uncorrected hearing loss-a review. Int J Audiol 42: 2S17-2S20.

Balanay JA, Kearney GD, Mannarino AJ [2016]. Assessment of occupational noise exposure among groundskeepers in North Carolina public universities. Environ Health Insights 10:EHI-S39682, https://doi.org/10.4137/EHI.S39682.

Babisch W [2011]. Cardiovascular effects of noise. Noise Health 13(52):201-204.

BLS [2017]. May 2017 National occupational employment and wage estimates United States. In: Occupational Employment Statistics. Washington, DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm.

Kerns E, Masterson E, Themann C, Calvert G [2018]. Cardiovascular conditions, hearing difficulty, and occupational noise exposure within US industries and occupations. Am J Ind Med 61(6), 477-491.

NIOSH [1998]. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Noise Exposure, revised criteria. Cincinnati, OH: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Publication 98-126.

Posted on by Jackie DiFrancesco BA, COHC; Asha Brogan and Bryan Beamer PhD, PE, CSP

7 comments on “Grounds for Change: Reducing Noise Exposure in Grounds Management Professionals – Part 1”

Comments listed below are posted by individuals not associated with CDC, unless otherwise stated. These comments do not represent the official views of CDC, and CDC does not guarantee that any information posted by individuals on this site is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. Read more about our comment policy ».

    Noise and emissions from gas-powered landscape equipment are an under appreciated hazard for workers and the public. Many landscape workers do not use hearing protection and do not participate in hearing conservation programs. Multiple machines are often in use simultaneously and for hours at a time, heightening the noise levels. Thank you very much for bringing attention to this issue.

    This is good idea but laud music noise is very common here affecting children and elders. How can one protect him/herself from incoming laud noise?
    Thanks God bless you,
    yours faithfully,
    Ongom Rufino

    Thank you for your comment. NIOSH research focuses on protection of workers and their exposure due to workplace activities. We do not research community noise exposures. For your situation, if the music noise is controllable, turn down the volume. If the sounds are coming from a source over which you have no control, available options may be to: 1) put a barrier between yourself and the sounds – that is, go indoors in a room and close doors and windows; 2) move to a location far enough from the noise source so that it is not too loud; or 3) use earplugs during periods when the noise level is high.

    This is an important health issue, not just for the laborers who use these obnoxious tools but for those around them as well. I would like to see this issue getting more attention, thank you for posting this.

    The medical community is now calling noise the new second hand smoke. Noise not only causes deafness and tinnitus, it increases blood pressure, contributes to cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Since the scale is logarithmic, a small increase in the decibel scale corresponds to a large increase in intensity. Thank you for raising awareness of this often overlooked subject.

    Can someone please notify my “luxury” apartment complex management about these findings? Working from home is HELL due to the ongoing continous NOISE from this gas-powered landscaping equipment. Every Wednesday all damned day is like living in a war zone and nobody cares. Management just tells me I’m “too sensitive”, when I know I’m not.

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Page last reviewed: August 1, 2018
Page last updated: August 1, 2018