In fact, all the meaningless and loud sounds that disturb people can be called noise. Employees who are exposed to noise for a long time may experience both psychological and physical health problems. especially hearing-related health problems are among the most caused by noise in the workplace.

There are devices specially designed to understand that noise in a workplace is too high to affect employee health. These devices can measure the noise in the environment or the noise to which a particular person is exposed.

In our country, the average noise exposure of employees in an 8-hour working day cannot exceed 87 decibels, whether or not ear protective equipment is used. That is, this noise level is not the ambient noise level, but the noise level reaching the ear. In other words, when calculating this, if an ear protection is used, its protective effect must also be taken into account.

For jobs whose noise level exceeds 85 decibels, one employee can be employed for up to 7,5 hours per day. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security issued a Regulation on the Protection of Employees from Risks Related to Noise in 2013. This regulation is designed to determine the minimum requirements for the protection of persons working in environments with high noise levels from health and safety risks that may arise as a result of exposure to noise, in particular hearing-related risks. 

The lowest exposure action values, the highest exposure action values ​​and the exposure limit values ​​are included in this regulation.
Employers are obliged to determine the noise levels to which the employees are exposed and to make noise measurements when necessary according to the risk assessment results through the risk assessment studies carried out in the work environment.

The methods and tools to be used in noise measurement shall be determined depending on the duration of exposure, the nature of the noise to be measured, the environmental factors and the characteristics of the measuring instrument. In order to determine parameters such as noise exposure level and sound pressure, these instruments must be capable of measuring whether the exposure limit values ​​and exposure action values ​​specified in the regulation are exceeded. The results of the measurement and evaluation are appropriately stored to be shown in the inspections of labor inspectors when necessary.

As a result of the risk assessment results, it may be necessary for tests such as ambient noise exposure measurement, dosimetric noise exposure measurement, noise mapping. Under normal working conditions, the average of the noise exposed by the employees over an eight hour working period shows the exposure effective values.

If the results obtained after all measurements show that the working environment is operating at higher noise than it should be, the employer should not employ a single worker until it decreases these values ​​to the desired level. According to the reports, after the arrangements are made in the required areas and the noise level is lowered below the maximum level, the workplace can resume its activities.

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