Human Performance under the Impact of Continuous and Intermittent Noise in a Manual Machining Task

Abstract

Experimental research was conducted to determine the performance of operators while carrying out industrial tasks in the presence of continuous and intermittent noise. Experimental investigations were carried out at 90, 95, 100 and 105 dB (A) for both types of noise. Two groups of subjects, one having a working experience of 2-7 years and other with 7-12 years were selected for the two studies. The number of units produced was taken as the measure of human performance. The results of the study showed that the level of noise and working experience were statistically significant when the task was carried out in a continuous noise environment. While under intermittent noise conditions effects of noise and work experience and the interaction effect of noise and work experience were all observed to be statistically significant. Investigations also revealed that intermittent noise had a more detrimental effect on performance when compared with continuous noise.

The Effect of Exposure to High Noise Levels on the Performance and Rate of Error in Manual Activities

“…In this study, no significant relationship was observed between the conditions of creating the sound levels and doing manual activities, which was in line with the study conducted by Taylor (2004), which showed no difference between one and multiple sources of creating sound levels in doing easy or hard visual activities ( 26 ). Overall, in line with the study conducted by Muzammil in 2002, the findings of our study confirmed the effect of noise on performance ( 27 ). If the safety issues are not observed in industrial factories and workshops where the workers are exposed to noise generated by the equipment, performance and productivity will decrease significantly.…”

Investigating the Relationship between Noise Exposure and Human Cognitive Performance: Attention, Stress, and Mental Workload Based on EEG Signals Using Power Spectrum Density

“…While a study concluded that noise had reduced cognitive function [88], previous findings revealed that decreased cognitive function and brain signals were only significant when exposed to noise at 95 dB and not at 75 or 85 dB [16]. Previous study findings stated that intermittent noise had a greater detrimental effect on performance compared to continuous noise [89]. The findings of this study explained that continuous noise had a different impact than intermittent noise on cognitive ability.…”

The interactive effect of industrial noise type, level and frequency characteristics on occupational skills

“…The variability in the current results, and those reported across the literature seems to suggest no conclusive evidence of an effect of noise on performance (Naravane, 2009). Noise may have no effect, may enhance or have a significant negative effect on performance (Muzammil & Hasan, 2004). It seems each study produces different effects of noise on performance depending on the task conducted and the conditions under which the task is conducted (Naravane, 2009).…”

“…The effects of noise on visual search in human inspection have been addressed by Taylor, Melloy, Dharwada, Gramopadhye, and Toler (2004), finding a decrease in performance for random and intermittent noise patterns relative to continuous noise sources. The results of Muzammil and Hasan (2004) found that noise intensity and the amount of work experience independently predicted performance during continuous noise. They also found that noise intensity, work experience as well as the interaction between noise and work experience were statistically significant for intermittent noise.…”