Abstract

Noise has harmful effects on the physical and psychosocial health and quality of life of workers and the public in general. These effects are not limited to hearing loss and tinnitus. Noise also increases stress levels and the incidence of cardiovascular diseases and hypertension.

In the workplace, high noise levels are a factor in accidents and cause deafness, the second most common occupational disease in terms of number of cases compensated in Québec. The occurrence of deafness has been constantly rising for over 20 years, exceeding 8000 cases in 2016.

The most widely used remedy to reduce noise levels is the installation of materials to absorb sound. In a previous study, entitled “Innovative Method for Characterizing Acoustic Materials in the Laboratory and Study of Its Applicability in the Field,” the research team proposed the development of an alternative method to the reverberation chamber and an examination of its use in the field. The results were promising.

Following on the study’s conclusions, the team will now work on developing a measurement system in the laboratory to limit all sources of errors, as well as creating a database of the absorption coefficients of commonly used materials.