Abstract

This project was carried out to investigate certain poorly-understood aspects of the manner in which evaluation of worker exposure to noise is currently performed in Québec, and to furnish an overview of the performance of all the equipment used in the CSST (Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail du Québec, Québec Occupational Health and Safety Commission) network to measure noise.

The report is meant to be used by all those responsible for occupational health and safety, including CSST inspectors, and includes a discussion of the mathematical basis of the assessment protocols recommended by the International Standardization Organization (ISO) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and a description of equipment specifications for dosimeters and integrating sound meters. The methods and criteria used by the IRSST in evaluating the performance of the instruments is also presented. Following a comprehensive analysis of the performance of an ideal impact noise dosimeter conforming to the OSHA model, the actual performance of all the instruments is presented.