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Music entertainment industry

Noise in the music entertainment industry
Music sound levels
Noise control measures

Noise in the music entertainment industry

For some 60 years or more music sound levels, as produced in hotels, discos, nightclubs and concert venues have become increasingly louder.

Amplifying systems have become more sophisticated and powerful. The sound systems used in music entertainment venues are powerful enough to cause, next to high sound levels, a sensation of vibration in the trunk of the body.

As well as hearing loss, exposure to the vibration from loud speaker systems can cause internal organs to vibrate at a much faster rate than the body trunk. This in turn may cause damage to those internal organs.

Music sound levels

Sound level surveys conducted in nightclubs, hotels and other entertainment venues found average sound exposure levels from pre-recorded or amplified live music in the range of mid 90 - 100dB. Peak sound levels were also measured in excess of 140dB Peak (C). Often with sound levels of this magnitude the base sounds are enhanced as well and cause a vibratory or thumping sensation in the chest.

With extended hours, workers and self employed people (for example, owners of venues and security guards) are working in these environments for longer periods of time. Shifts of seven to nine hours are no exception. Because of this, they are exposed more often, and for longer periods of time, to loud music than patrons visiting perhaps once or twice a week for a few hours.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights are the worst from a noise exposure point of view as they are generally the busiest nights with music sound levels the highest. Most workers observed during the surveys were not wearing hearing protection despite commonly working up to five shifts per week with shifts on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights often between seven and nine hours.

There are some common arguments why it is perceived that control measures cannot be taken in this industry:

'We cannot have the music at a lower volume as the public likes it that way'

or

'I (or my staff) cannot wear earplugs as they (the staff) must be able to understand the customer'

Anecdotal evidence from patrons suggest they do not want the music so loud they cannot have a conversation and if no earplugs are worn by staff at work, it is possible that in time they will experience hearing loss sufficient to limit their ability to hear customers clearly in normal circumstances.

While it is acknowledged that there may be some initial difficulty in understanding customers' drink orders while wearing ear plugs, experience has shown that generally this is overcome within about a week.

After this adjustment period, the wearer of the hearing protector will actually hear better in the noisy work environment than without the protector being worn. If the wearer continues to experience difficulties in understanding it is probably a sign that some hearing damage has already happened or that the hearing protectors are of the wrong rating.

In that case, it would be better to try 'musicians earplugs', which provide a flatter response over the frequency range. This has the effect of turning down the volume but without the distortion (bassy sound) that industrial type earplugs often have.

'I have given my staff earplugs. I cannot force them (the staff) to wear them. It is up to them to wear them'

This employer does not understand the obligations placed on employers under the Workplace Health and Safety Act and Regulation. Where workers (and the employer as well) are exposed to excessive noise, as defined in part 12'Noise', of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008, the employer has an obligation under section 139 to prevent the risk from that exposure.

This means that the employer must, if necessary, enforce the wearing of hearing protectors by the employer's workers, as the employer cannot allow a dangerous situation to continue. There are legal precedents (Bartley v Coles Myer, Groothoff v Venues Unlimited Pty Ltd and Young v Wildlodge Pty Ltd and Hannay) which deal exactly with the requirement to provide and enforce the use of personal protective equipment to prevent exposure to risk at work.

However, before the employer takes such action the employer must have provided proper training to the workers to enable them to wear the hearing protectors correctly.

'My staff cannot wear earplugs as the customer might think that the noise is too loud.'

Yes, the music is too loud for those working in the industry without using hearing protectors and may be too loud for the patrons. A prudent venue operator makes earplugs available for patrons and states their availability with a notice near the venue's entrance.

The following quote came from a 28 year old DJ who has worked in the industry for ten years:

'I already have the TV up twice as loud as everyone else.'

The above are some of the more common reasons given when talking to people in the industry.

Noise control measures

As with all risk exposures in the workplace, risk management must be applied through a hierarchy of control measures, i.e. elimination, substitution, engineering and/or administrative controls, and as a last resort (or as an interim measure), reliance on protective equipment.

The control of music entertainment noise should, wherever possible, be done through engineering and/or administrative noise control measures.

Some examples of engineering noise control measures for loud music include:

Examples of administrative noise control measures include:

Where noise control cannot be achieved through these measures an employer should provide suitable personal hearing protectors as well as proper instruction in their use so that exposed workers can perform their work in a manner that is safe and without risks to their health and safety.