Noise exposure
Noise adds up on energy, not on decibels. Two hours at 91 dB(A), four at 85 and two at 78 is 86.9 dB(A) for the day — above the 85 dB(A) upper action value, where a plain average of the levels would read 'under it'.
No card, no expiry. The calculator below works without an account — keeping the record needs one.
Try it now — no account
One row per task or machine: the level at the person's ear and the time exposed. The day adds itself up as you type, on energy, HSE's way. Nothing you type leaves this page.
A record with the worker's name, the date, each task's source and a line to sign - as a PDF, in the office's file - needs a free account. No card, no expiry.
Every figure is a guide until it is measured on this site. Below 80 dB(A) the Regulations set no action value duties; from 80 hearing protection must be made available, from 85 it must be worn and the area marked. The 87 dB(A) limit applies at the ear, with protection on.
In the office
Enter each task, its level and its time. Every entry carries its source — measured on site, or declared by the manufacturer under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 — and that source prints on the record. The picker in each row offers HSE's own published ranges for common site work as starting points; the record marks them estimated until the level is checked on this site.
On site
The record tells you how many decibels the hearing protection has to remove. Where exposure is near the values, HSE expects measurement — this tool tells you when you are there.
What it never does
It does not know what the breaker three metres away adds, or what a shaft does to the sound. A declared figure is measured at the operator in test conditions.
It gives unprotected exposure; whether a particular protector brings the ear under the 87 dB(A) limit value is your calculation, with the protector's data.
What it costs
This tool calls no model and spends nothing: it is free on every plan. All plans and prices →
The other tools
- Site advisor — An HSE advisor on every site
- Toolbox talks — From HSE guidance, in the crew's language
- RAMS review — A risk assessment and method statement, checked 12 ways
- CPP compatibility — Your RAMS against the construction phase plan
- COSHH assessment — From the product's safety data sheet
- Hand-arm vibration — A HAVS calculator on HSE's points
- Dropped object risk — Weight and height in, the answer out
- Take 5 / POWRA — A point-of-work risk assessment
- Kit check — The site equipment register, scanned by QR
- Site register — Crew, certificates, the 3 Strikes board
- Site audit — A walk, photos, a PDF report
- Site signs — 85 signs, print and laminate