Noise Pollution in a Construction Site Report 2022

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NOISE POLLUTION IN A CONSTRUCTION
SITE
Student’s Surname
Name of Institution
City, Country
Email address

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Abstract- Noise pollution is the spread of
noise which has harmful effects on human
activities and animal life. Building sites
contribute to most noises that are
experienced outside. The main objective of
this report is to discuss the matter of noise
pollution in a construction site.
Construction sites produce noise which is
one of major acoustic polluting factors in the
society (Janissa, 2018). The main impacts of
noise pollution include interference with
communication, cause sleeplessness and
other inconveniences. Acute effects of noise
pollution in a construction site include
mental problems and hearing disorders.
There have been campaigns to minimize
noise pollutions through enhancement of
construction rules, public education by the
governments and other Non-Governmental
Organizations (Babisch & Ahmad, 2010).
Keywords: Pollution, Noise, Construction
sites, Construction noise, Impacts of noise,
Human health
I. Introduction
Noise is undesirable sound which has
volume or amplitude of loudness, class of
noise, or any other modality making
resonance or obscene. Irritating noise and
subsequent challenges, introduction of noise
pollutants from building constructions,
assemblage and all have come over to be
exponentially significant. The
inconveniences have impacts on workers
and the local residences. Construction sites
happen to be one of the known sources of
noise pollution (Dinesh, 2017). Construction
activities and demolition of buildings
usually take place in residential places
which are usually found out of towns.
Construction noise come from construction
site activities such as demolition, strategic
works and building renewal work. In urban
areas most of the construction noises come
from construction of buildings, highways
and city streets. Contributors of construction
noise include loaders, pneumatic equipment,
trucks, machine mounted percussion drills,
breaking equipment and air compressors
(Buket, et al., 2014).
Construction sector is a significant
contributor of pollution, attributed to release
of exhaust particles and a lot of noises
mostly from machinery and heavy
equipment that are used in fields of
construction. Too much noise is a source of
confound and irritation to human beings and
can end up causing hypertension, loss of
hearing and irregular heartbeat.

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Main Findings
The table and graph below show some
of typical noise levels found on construction
site and average dB (A) for some
construction activities respectively.
Table: Some of typical noise levels found on
construction sites
Source: CPWR- Center for Construction
Research and Training
Graph 1: Average dB (A) For Some
Construction Activities
Source: Construction Safety Association of
Ontario
II. Literature Review
A. The State of Noise Pollution from
Construction Sites
Constructions are always very noisy and
they are frequent sources of noise pollution
globally. Heavy machineries, groups of
people, power tools lead to extreme noise
choruses.
Between all of these sources of noise in
construction sites, many workers submit
hearing loss compensation claims as others
submit complaints about noises from the
construction sites.
B. Site Mobilization Management
This is an interdisciplinary field
which is basically aim at optimizing
facility placement effects on the workers
and nature. The objective can be
achieved by optimizing facilities
placements such as crushing plants and
batching plants which have destructive
effects on health of the workers. The
system includes proper management of

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facility placement to avoid harmful
effects by ensuring proper arrangement
of the facilities. It can be best enhanced
by use of computer programs.
C. Factors of noise pollution in a
construction site
The noises from construction work
places come from different sources and they
produce varying types of noise such as blast
noise, background noise, rotating noise,
idling noise, impact noise, squeals,
intermittent noise and howling noise.
Construction sites have different levels of
destructive noise, and they usually occur for
a short while where various traders camp on
a site as they carry out their activities.
Depending on the level and type of
construction, it is usually done outdoor,
indoors or both. Different workers use
specific equipment and machine to carry out
their jobs, and thus production of different
types of noises (Goines & Hagler, 2007).
The activities at the construction sites
frequently change as the construction
continue. At the early stage of construction,
carpenters may construct forms for the
cement workers to pour the foundation
concrete, steel structures maybe welded and
erected by steel workers, later on the
building is enclosed by roofers, stucco
workers and brick masons. Finally the
building is finished up by electricians,
carpenters, plumbers and ventilation
installers (Golmohammadi, et al., 2013).
Sources of noise that influence the
surrounding population in a construction site
include diesel power generators, transport
machines, maintenance and repair, welding
and cutting activities, erection and heavy
machinery such as trucks. Each of these
activities and use of different machines
occur at different times hence noises created
also vary with time. These jobs usually
overlap, therefore the workers and
surrounding residence that are relatively
quiet get exposed to the unfavorable noise
from the constructors (Geetha & Ambika,
2015).

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Graph 2: Safe Sound Level verses
Allowable Times per Day
Source: http://www.pollutionissues.com/Na-
Ph/Noise-Pollution.html
1. Noise from the Trucks
This is always experienced in urban
areas than in rural areas. Some
investigations assume that there is always no
noise pollution in rural areas. Heavy trucks
carrying building materials are always very
loud compared to normal passenger
vehicles. The noise from these trucks is
always irritating to the pedestrians and to
those who live around the construction sites
(Jennifer, 2019). This has led to restriction
of trucks from accessing or passing through
some areas during evening and night hours.
Too much noise from these trucks causes
some health problems such as unusual
heartbeat frequency, changes in hormone
states, increased rates of blood pressure and
sleeplessness (Fatemeh & Amelia, 2011).
Impacts of noise pollution and costs have
been reflected in the values of properties
since people are usually not willing to pay
and live in places that are near highways and
other truck routes. The amount pollution
from the trucks is influenced by other
factors such as road surfaces, vehicle speeds,
weather, and flow of traffic, type and
conditions of the trucks (Jakovljevic, et al.,
2006).
2. Construction machines
Construction machines which lead to
noise pollution include concrete breaking
devices, pile drivers, earth moving
machines, combustion engines and
pneumatically driven devices. Some
construction project types are not usually put
at risk by high noise, while some are,
especially when some specific occur
coincidentally. For some cases of
construction sites, increased influence is
usually felt from the surrounding nature and
the place where the project is. The impacts

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of noise from construction sites is usually
experienced when the activity takes place in
area near to residential buildings or in a
reflective environment (Jeff, 2010).
3. Power generators
Power generators and motors are
some of the electrical machines at
construction sites, and they produce a lot of
unwanted noise which is very annoying.
These power generators are usually utilized
in areas where there is no power supply.
They are used to power all the equipment
that require electricity such as welding
machines and lighting of dark places
(Osagie, et al., 2018). The workers that use
such machines are exposed to dangerous
levels of noise because apart from the noise
that is produced by the individual tool, the
tool requires electricity to run. In most of the
construction sites, the required electricity is
sourced from power generators, which also
produce a lot of noise, therefore the workers
end up being subjected to double effects of
noise pollution (OSH, 2013).
D. Effects of Noise on Health of
Workers
The intensity of noise is measured in
decibel units. The scale of decibel is
logarithmic. In every rise of 10 decibel
represents a tenfold rise in the intensity of
noise. The perception of workers towards
loudness also relates with a logarithmic
scale. A rise by 10 decibel is believed to
approximately double the loudness. Distance
reduces the effective level of the decibel
which reaches the ear. Workers who are
exposed to noise levels of 45 decibels
cannot sleep. Pain is felt in the ear at 120
decibels, but hearing damage starts at a level
of 85 decibels. The exposure duration is also
critical. The noises can also cause
sleeplessness, ulcers, heartburn, high blood
pressure, indigestion, irritability and some
heart diseases.
E. Effects of Noise on the Site
Environment
Noise pollution extremely affect lives
of many animals. There is direct connection
between noise and the health of animals.
One of the man problems is the increased
death risks.
Noise can also cause stress on animals
increasing number of deaths by altering the
vital balance in prey/predator detection and
avoidance and by infringing in to their
utilization of sounds in communication
especially concerning navigation and
reproduction. Another impact on lives of
animals is the reduction in usable habitat
due to construction noises.

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F. Ways of Managing and Controlling Noise
Pollution
Every construction project or activity
is always different from the other and they
usually keep changing. Construction
activities do not happen on one location or
are rather stationary. These activities occur
in places where they can be affected by
topography, landscaping, weather,
atmosphere and wind tunnels (Haron, et al.,
2008). Relatively, construction noise
producers such as heavy earth moving
equipment can relocate from one point to the
other and its intensity in noise production
will significantly change throughout the
work day. Therefore, management solutions
for noise produced have been tailored to
favour such cases. The methods usually
include use of quitter equipment, barrier
protection, noise perimeter zones, and
modification of the existing equipment,
periodic maintenance of machines and
proper scheduling of activities at the
construction sites (Radka, 2017).
1. Engineering controls: This
process modifies the equipment or machine
being used to be quieter. Such engineering
controls include replacing existing
equipment with the ones which are quieter,
retro-fitting available machines with
damping apparatus, enclosures, mufflers,
carrying out periodic maintenance on
existing equipment and erecting barriers
around areas that produce annoying noises
(Nwasinachi & Jonah, 2015).
2. Administrative Controls: These
include decisions of management on work
load, work responsibilities, and work
rotation to minimize worker’s exposure to
too much levels of annoying noises. Such
typical decisions of management to
minimize exposure to too much noise
include, restricting access to construction
sites, transferring workers from extreme
noise sources, proper rotation of workers
who do noisy tasks and shutting down of
extremely noisy equipment when they are
not needed (Richard & Jerry, 2019).
3. Personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment include
earplugs and are always provided to workers
to minimize their exposure to dangerous
noise effects. This always serves as the last
option when other control methods have
been tried and observed to fail or are
infeasible. The rule is always provided and it
states that, every worker must always use
earplugs whenever they are working in areas
with noise levels of 85 dB or when the
environment does not allow normal

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communication apart from shouting
(Ballesteros & Fernandez, 2010).
G. Workplace and Occupational Noise
and Vibration
Globally, the health hazards of noise
and vibration exposure in the construction
site have been noted and are subject to
standards of safety. Most jurisdictions have
Occupational Safety and Health Legislation
in place. It dictates the maximum safe
workplace exposure levels and stipulates the
responsibilities of the employer in protecting
the hearing of the workers. For the case of
United States, the Occupational Noise
Exposure Standard is OSHA 29 CFR
1910.95 as set by Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA). In Alberta,
the limits of workplace noise exposure are
set by Part 16 of the Alberta Occupational
Health and Safety Code. In Canada, every
province sets its own standards.
III. Conclusion
This report presents the causes, effects
and ways of controlling excessive noise at
the construction site. Construction activities
are usually inherently noisy and the noise is
usually dangerous as it affects the workers
and the comfort of people residing around
the construction site. Most of the direct ways
of controlling noise in construction sites can
be easily implemented since the workers and
contractors do not have diverse acoustical
technical base to quiet equipment.
Minimizing effects of noise exposure or
isolation of nearby people from the sources
of annoying noise are the noise management
methods, also provision of personal ear
protection and engineered methods for
controlling noise (Lam, et al., 2011).
Some construction and demolition
activities produce noises that are
unavoidable but its severe effects can be
avoided by performing the activity in a
considerable manner and suitable time. The
method used and the time of activity can
bring out a big difference in terms of noise
in a construction site. Often, construction
site noise challenges are usually solved by
combined efforts of the workers and the
contractors. Proper managed and controlled
construction sites from noise helps in
protecting people from severe effects of
noise pollution such as saving them from
losing their hearing abilities (Narendra &
Davar, 2017).

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