Madahana Milka C, Nyandoro Otis T, Moroe Nomfundo F
School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
S Afr J Commun Disord. 2020 Mar 31;67(2):e1-e5. doi: 10.4102/sajcd.v67i2.684.
The main objective of this article was to present some of the engineering noise control methods that are currently being used across the world in the mining industry, while at the same time interrogating noise control measures that could be applied to effectively reduce noise emissions from the equipment utilised within South African mines.
A brief summary of the hearing conservation programmes used in South Africa is presented. Summarised research on the use of engineering noise control in South Africa is also presented, with an overview of the various engineering noise control methods applied across the world in dealing with occupational noise.
For illustrative purposes, case studies were used to show how engineering noise controls could be used to reduce the noise levels and risks within this context.
Some of the case studies used have cited a reduction in the noise intensity emitted by machinery from a range of 93 dBA - 104 dBA to a range of 90 dBA - 94 dBA, demonstrating quite a significant reduction in the noise emission of the equipment. This article further provides recommendations on how South African mines could contextualise these methods.
One of the key recommendations is encouraging the South African mining industry towards the documenting and publishing of those engineering noise control methodologies that have proven to be effective for shared best practice. A need was identified for extensive research to be conducted and documented evidence to be made available to assist the South African mining industry with locating and assessing current engineering controls available in South Africa. Machines and processes that require noise control should be identified and, lastly, the current barriers to the use of engineering noise control methodologies should be identified, with the main goals of finding ways to overcome the noise challenges in the mines.
本文的主要目的是介绍目前在全球采矿业中使用的一些工程噪声控制方法，同时探讨可用于有效减少南非矿山所用设备噪声排放的噪声控制措施。
介绍了南非使用的听力保护计划的简要概述。还介绍了南非对工程噪声控制使用情况的总结研究，并概述了全球在应对职业噪声方面应用的各种工程噪声控制方法。
为便于说明，使用案例研究展示了在此背景下如何利用工程噪声控制来降低噪声水平和风险。
所使用的一些案例研究表明，机械设备发出的噪声强度从93分贝A至104分贝A的范围降至90分贝A至94分贝A的范围，这表明设备的噪声排放有了相当显著的降低。本文还就南非矿山如何将这些方法因地制宜提供了建议。
关键建议之一是鼓励南非采矿业记录并公布那些已被证明有效的工程噪声控制方法，以供共享最佳实践。确定需要进行广泛研究并提供书面证据，以协助南非采矿业查找和评估南非现有的工程控制措施。应确定需要噪声控制的机器和工艺，最后，应确定使用工程噪声控制方法的当前障碍，主要目标是找到克服矿山噪声挑战的方法。
