Week 6 - People: Noise problems

Unfavourable effects of noise

Hearing loss - Excessive exposure to noise causes loss of hearing
Quality of life - Eg: busy roads or airports are considered unpleasant and undesirable as places to live.
Interference - Disruption of speech or music can be annoying and, in some situations, dangerous.
Distraction - from a particular task can cause inefficiency and inattention – and may be dangerous.
Expense - Control of noise is expensive. Businesses can suffer loss of revenue in a noisy environment.

Hearing damage - many people are exposed to work and leisure noise levels that slowly but relentlessly cause deafness

The construction industry has high levels of noise that can damage workers hearing and health.
Aim of NZ building regulations for sound insulation: safeguard people from illness or lack of amenity as a result of undue noise transmission.
On a positive note: room acoustics – good quality sound helps communication - and gives pleasure.