Save Money, Lower Noise Levels
Performing a Compressed Air Audit
by Jim Hall

How noisy is your plant? Hearing loss depends upon how loud noise is and how long you are exposed to it. Noise greater than 85 dB can damage hearing if the exposure is long enough. Do you use your iPod at work? iPod’s are being linked more and more to an increase in hearing loss among America’s youth. Have you ever walked up next to someone using earphones or headphones and noticed that you could hear the songs they’re listening to from several feet away? Is so, their device is almost certainly louder than 85 dB. Someone better start saving for a hearing-aid!

Just recently my crew and I finished an air leak audit in a plant. Imagine 151 leaks found in three days? Some of these leaks were very obvious, and some were not, but one particular leak chimed in at 78 dB on the ultrasonic instrument. Audibly, it was ear piercing.