Noise at Work Regulations Explained
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 set duties for UK employers to assess, prevent and reduce workplace noise risk — and to use hearing protection only where source and pathway control is not reasonably practicable. This guide explains how the framework works in practice.
Category
Regulations & compliance
Audience
Employers & SHEQ teams
Scope
UK occupational noise
UK workplace noise guidance
Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005
Quick summary
- Employers must assess workplace noise risk where workers may be exposed.
- Exposure should be prevented or reduced so far as reasonably practicable.
- Action values trigger additional duties — assessment, control and protection.
- Hearing protection is not the first or only control.
- Health surveillance may be required where there is a risk to health.
- Assessments must be reviewed whenever circumstances change.
What they are
What are the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005?
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 are the principal UK legislation governing occupational noise. They exist to protect workers from risks to health and safety — primarily noise-induced hearing damage, but also safety risks such as interference with audible warnings and communication.
They apply wherever workers may be exposed to noise arising out of, or in connection with, their work. The framework is built around assessment, control, protection, information and review. The specific duties that bite at a given workplace depend on actual exposure and risk, not headcount or sector.
The Regulations do not require employers to read or quote the legislation directly. They require a competent, proportionate response that demonstrably reduces risk.
Who must comply
Who must comply?
The Regulations place primary duties on employers in Great Britain. They also affect employees — who must cooperate with control measures and report defects — and self-employed people whose work may expose others to noise risk.
Agency workers and contractors carrying out work on a site are covered by the same duties as directly employed staff. Organisations of any size can fall within scope where noise risk exists; small workshops, family businesses and large manufacturers are not treated differently in principle.
The duties follow the work and the actual exposure, not the contractual arrangement or the size of the organisation.
Workplace noise types
What types of workplace noise are covered?
The Regulations apply to occupational noise arising from work activities. Common sources include:
- Production machinery and assembly lines
- Impact tools and pneumatic equipment
- Compressed-air systems and air guns
- Metal fabrication, grinding and cutting
- Construction tools, plant and site equipment
- Conveyors, materials handling and racking
- Extraction, ventilation and dust systems
- Plant rooms — pumps, compressors and fans
- Maintenance and repair operations
- Mobile work across multiple locations
- Audible alarms and high peak noise events
Environmental and neighbour-noise issues are governed by different considerations and are not the subject of these Regulations.
Core duties
The employer’s core duties
Duties scale with risk. The list below summarises the structured response the Regulations expect.
Identify noise hazards
Recognise machinery, tools, processes and activities likely to produce significant workplace noise.
Identify exposed people
Include employees, agency workers, contractors and any other workers exposed by the work.
Estimate or measure exposure
Use reliable information or workplace measurements to characterise daily, weekly and peak exposure.
Eliminate where possible
Remove or design out noise risk where reasonably practicable, rather than control it downstream.
Reduce exposure
Apply engineering, substitution and organisational controls before relying on protective equipment.
Provide hearing protection
Supply suitable hearing protection and ensure it is worn correctly where required by the assessment.
Designate zones
Establish hearing protection zones with appropriate signage where conditions require their use.
Inform and train
Ensure workers understand noise risk, controls, hearing protection use and how to report problems.
Arrange health surveillance
Provide audiometry through competent occupational health where there is a risk to hearing.
Maintain controls
Keep enclosures, silencers, guards, dampers and hearing protection in effective working order.
Review the assessment
Reassess when circumstances change or when there is reason to suspect the assessment is no longer valid.
Risk assessment
Noise risk assessment
A suitable and sufficient assessment considers more than the loudest reading. It builds a defensible picture of how workers are actually exposed during normal operations.
See noise exposure assessment for the way these factors are combined into LEX,8h, LEX,40h and peak exposure interpretation.
Measurements
When measurements are needed
Measurements are not always required. Where reliable information — competent prior surveys, manufacturer data representative of in-service conditions, comparable workplaces — gives a sound basis for decisions, that may be sufficient. Where it does not, workplace measurements are needed.
Personal noise dosimetry is particularly useful for mobile workers, multi-task roles and operations where exposure varies meaningfully during the shift. Area and task measurements may suit stable, fixed-position work. One spot reading is rarely a defensible basis for an exposure assessment, and measurements must reflect normal work rather than convenient or unrepresentative conditions.
See workplace noise monitoring and personal noise dosimetry for the practical measurement options.
Action values
Exposure Action Values
The Regulations define daily (or weekly) personal exposure values that trigger additional employer duties. Both the noise level and the duration of exposure matter.
Lower Exposure Action Value
80 dB(A) LEX,8h
Triggers hearing protection on request, information, instruction and training, and a suitable risk assessment.
Upper Exposure Action Value
85 dB(A) LEX,8h
Triggers reasonably practicable exposure reduction, mandatory hearing protection where required and consideration of zones and health surveillance.
Action values describe exposure at the ear without taking hearing protection into account. They are not simple instantaneous room readings — they reflect both noise level and duration.
Limit value
Exposure Limit Value
The exposure limit value is 87 dB(A) LEX,8h. Employees must not be exposed above this value. Unlike the action values, the limit-value comparison may take into account the noise reduction provided by any hearing protection actually worn.
That allowance is conditional. Hearing protection must be suitable for the exposure, in good condition, correctly fitted and consistently worn throughout the exposure period. Actual achieved protection is rarely as high as nominal datasheet attenuation.
Reaching the limit value does not remove the duty to reduce source noise. Where exposure at the ear without protection would exceed the limit, the underlying noise source needs to be addressed.
Peak values
Peak sound pressure values
Peak sound pressure is considered separately because brief but intense impulsive noise can cause hearing damage that average exposure does not capture.
Lower Exposure Action Value
135 dB(C) peak
Upper Exposure Action Value
137 dB(C) peak
Exposure Limit Value
140 dB(C) peak
Common impulsive sources include impact tools, press operations, metal-on-metal contact, pneumatic releases and certain alarms. An LEX,8h within action values can still conceal peak exposure that exceeds these thresholds.
At the lower value
What happens at the Lower Exposure Action Value?
Where exposure is likely to reach the lower action value, employers should:
- Make suitable hearing protection available on request.
- Provide information, instruction and training on workplace noise risk.
- Ensure a suitable noise risk assessment is in place.
- Consider what reasonably practicable steps are available to reduce exposure.
Reaching the lower action value is not in itself an absolute trigger for mandatory hearing protection, but it is a clear signal that noise is a significant workplace risk and should be managed actively.
At the upper value
What happens at the Upper Exposure Action Value?
At or above the upper action value, the Regulations require employers to:
- Reduce exposure so far as reasonably practicable through technical and organisational controls.
- Provide suitable hearing protection and ensure it is worn where required.
- Identify and mark hearing protection zones where appropriate.
- Provide information, instruction, training and supervision.
- Consider audiometric health surveillance where there is a risk to health.
Hearing protection should not be presented as the first or only response. Source and pathway controls remain the priority.
Control hierarchy
Noise-control hierarchy
The Regulations expect controls to be applied in order of effectiveness. Hearing protection sits at the bottom — not the top — of the hierarchy.
- 1
Eliminate
Remove the noisy process or replace it with a non-noisy alternative wherever reasonably practicable.
- 2
Substitute
Replace machinery, tools or methods with quieter alternatives.
- 3
Engineering controls
Damping, silencers, vibration isolation and reduced source emission.
- 4
Enclosure
Acoustic enclosures around significant noise sources to contain emission.
- 5
Isolation
Separate workers from the source through barriers, distance or control rooms.
- 6
Damping
Add damping treatments to reduce structure-borne and panel radiated noise.
- 7
Maintenance
Address wear, imbalance and degraded silencers that increase noise over time.
- 8
Organisational controls
Adjust scheduling, batch sizes and work patterns to limit individual exposure.
- 9
Reduced duration
Rotate or reorganise roles so loud tasks occupy a smaller share of any one shift.
- 10
Hearing protection
Use suitable hearing protection as the residual control — never as a substitute for source control.
Hearing protection is not a substitute for reasonably practicable source control.
Hearing protection
Hearing protection
Hearing protection should be available at or above the lower action value and, where required by the assessment, worn at or above the upper action value. Selection should match the exposure spectrum and the work being done.
Common considerations include attenuation against the measured exposure, the risk of under-protection (insufficient attenuation) and over-protection (excessive attenuation that isolates workers from speech and warnings), fit, comfort, compatibility with other PPE, and the need to communicate during work. Maintenance, replacement and training all matter as much as the initial choice.
See hearing protection assessment for the dedicated review of selection, attenuation and fit.
Zones
Hearing protection zones
A hearing protection zone is an area where employees must wear hearing protection because exposure is likely to reach or exceed the upper action value, or because the assessment requires it.
Zones should be marked with the required signage, and where reasonably practicable, access should be controlled. Boundaries should reflect actual measured noise rather than convenience, and the practical implications — audible warnings, communication, visitor and contractor access, supervision — must be considered. Zones should be reviewed when machinery, processes or layouts change.
Health surveillance
Health surveillance
Audiometric health surveillance should be provided for employees regularly exposed at or above the upper action value, and for any other workers considered to be at risk. Audiometry is intended to identify early signs of hearing change so action can be taken before damage becomes significant.
Health surveillance must be delivered by competent occupational health professionals with appropriate confidentiality. Individual results belong to the employee and their occupational health provider; anonymised group trends can be shared with the employer to review the effectiveness of noise controls.
Health surveillance is a screening and prevention tool that supports — but does not replace — control of exposure at source.
Information & training
Information, instruction and training
Workers should understand:
- Workplace noise risk and the noisy tasks they perform
- The control measures in place and how to use them
- Correct work methods that minimise exposure
- Hearing protection selection, fit and use
- Hearing protection zone boundaries and signage
- How to report defects, damaged guards or failed silencers
- Health surveillance arrangements and follow-up
- How to raise noise concerns
- Why normal work behaviour matters during monitoring
- The role of supervision and review
Purchasing & maintenance
Purchasing and maintenance
Noise emission should be a specified consideration when purchasing new machinery. Supplier sound-power data is useful for comparison, but installation, ducting, enclosures and the surrounding environment all influence in-service noise at the operator.
Noise often rises over time as equipment wears. A maintenance regime that addresses worn bearings, loose panels, damaged guards, compressed-air leaks, degraded silencers and worn vibration isolators helps keep measured exposure in line with the original assessment. After installation or significant maintenance, in-service measurement confirms whether specification has been achieved.
Review
When the assessment should be reviewed
The Regulations require assessments to be reviewed where there is reason to suspect they are no longer valid. Typical triggers include:
- New machinery or tools
- Changed manufacturing processes
- Increased production volumes
- Altered layouts or workflows
- New shift patterns or work groups
- Different employee groups affected
- Failure of noise controls or enclosures
- Findings from health surveillance
- Employee hearing complaints
- Enforcement concerns
- Evidence the previous assessment no longer reflects reality
There is no single universal review interval. The appropriate frequency depends on the workplace, the stability of operations and the strength of the existing assessment.
Common mistakes
Common employer mistakes
A consistent set of mistakes appears across UK workplaces. Most are avoidable with a proportionate, competent approach.
Relying on phone-based sound apps for assessment
Treating one spot reading as a full exposure assessment
Issuing hearing protection without reducing source noise
Ignoring peak sound pressure from impulsive work
Letting acoustic enclosures and silencers fall into disrepair
Monitoring on an unrepresentative or quiet day
Relying solely on manufacturer sound-power data
Failing to train workers on hearing protection use
No periodic review of hearing protection selection
No reassessment after machinery or process change
Assuming small businesses are exempt from the duties
Incomplete or undocumented assessment records
Compliance checklist
Practical compliance checklist
A staged checklist for moving from initial recognition of workplace noise risk to a reviewed, documented control programme.
- 1
Identify noise hazards across the workplace
- 2
Identify the workers who may be exposed
- 3
Gather reliable information about exposure
- 4
Measure where reliable information is not sufficient
- 5
Assess daily, weekly and peak exposure
- 6
Compare results against the action and limit values
- 7
Implement source and pathway controls
- 8
Provide suitable hearing protection where required
- 9
Establish hearing protection zones and training
- 10
Arrange health surveillance where appropriate
- 11
Document actions, decisions and controls
- 12
Review after any significant change
How we help
How Workplace Noise Surveys can help
We support UK employers across the practical workstreams that underpin Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 compliance.
Workplace noise surveys
Site-wide surveys, measurement planning and structured reporting against UK action values.
Learn more
Representative monitoring
Task and area measurements that reflect normal operating conditions across the workplace.
Learn more
Personal noise dosimetry
Shift-length dosimetry for mobile workers and variable-task roles.
Learn more
Noise exposure assessment
LEX,8h and LEX,40h calculations interpreted against the regulatory values.
Learn more
Hearing protection assessment
Selection, attenuation, fit, compatibility and use of hearing protection.
Learn more
Factory noise surveys
Production-line, machinery and process noise assessment for manufacturing sites.
Learn more
Occupational hygiene noise services
Integrated occupational hygiene approach combining survey, dosimetry and control review.
Learn more
Control recommendations
Prioritised technical and organisational control suggestions following the control hierarchy.
Learn more
Technical reporting
Reports written for the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 framework.
Learn more
Related
Related guidance and services
Noise at Work Regulations
Main UK regulatory service and compliance overview.
VisitWorkplace Noise Surveys
Site-wide workplace noise survey scope and methodology.
VisitWorkplace Noise Monitoring
Representative occupational noise monitoring across operations.
VisitNoise Exposure Assessment
Daily and weekly LEX,8h interpretation against action values.
VisitPersonal Noise Dosimetry
Worker dosimetry for mobile, multi-task and shift-based roles.
VisitHearing Protection Assessment
Selection, attenuation, fit and use of hearing protection.
VisitOccupational Hygiene Noise Services
Integrated occupational hygiene support across the noise programme.
VisitWorkplace Noise Resources
UK workplace noise knowledge centre and category index.
VisitArticle disclaimer
This article provides general UK occupational-noise guidance and is not legal advice. Site-specific duties under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 depend on the actual work, measured exposure and risk at each workplace. Competent assessment may be required to support compliance and employee-protection decisions.
FAQ
Noise at Work Regulations FAQs
What are the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005?+
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 are the UK regulations that require employers to assess and manage workplace noise risk. They set out exposure action values, an exposure limit value and a structured set of duties — assessment, control, hearing protection, information, training, health surveillance and review — proportionate to actual exposure.
What is the lower exposure action value?+
The lower exposure action value is a daily or weekly personal noise exposure of 80 dB(A) LEX,8h, with an associated peak sound pressure of 135 dB(C). At or above this value, employers should make hearing protection available on request and provide information, instruction and training, supported by a suitable noise risk assessment.
What is the upper exposure action value?+
The upper exposure action value is a daily or weekly personal noise exposure of 85 dB(A) LEX,8h with a peak of 137 dB(C). At or above this value, employers must reduce exposure so far as reasonably practicable, provide hearing protection and ensure it is worn, identify hearing protection zones where appropriate and consider health surveillance.
What is the exposure limit value?+
The exposure limit value is 87 dB(A) LEX,8h with a peak of 140 dB(C). Employees must not be exposed above this value. Unlike the action values, the limit value comparison may take into account the noise reduction provided by hearing protection actually worn — provided that protection is correctly selected, fitted and used.
Do the Regulations apply to small businesses?+
Yes. The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 apply to all employers in Great Britain regardless of size. Smaller businesses are not exempt. What changes with size is the proportionality of the response, not whether the underlying duties apply.
Is hearing protection enough to comply?+
No. The Regulations require employers to control noise at source where reasonably practicable and to use hearing protection as a residual control. Issuing hearing protection without considering elimination, substitution and engineering controls does not meet the requirements of the Regulations.
When is a noise risk assessment required?+
A noise risk assessment is required wherever workers are likely to be exposed at or above the lower exposure action value, or where there is otherwise reason to believe noise may pose a risk to health. In practice, that includes most workplaces with machinery, tools or processes producing significant noise.
When are hearing protection zones needed?+
Hearing protection zones should be identified, marked with suitable signage and access-controlled where employees are likely to be exposed at or above the upper exposure action value, or where hearing protection is required to control exposure. Zone boundaries should reflect actual measured noise rather than convenience.
When is health surveillance required?+
Audiometric health surveillance should be provided for employees regularly exposed at or above the upper exposure action value, and for any workers otherwise considered to be at risk. Health surveillance must be delivered by competent occupational health professionals with appropriate confidentiality.
Can a phone app be used for workplace noise assessment?+
No. Phone sound-level apps are not a substitute for a competent workplace noise assessment. They use uncalibrated microphones and lack the frequency-weighting and peak detection performance needed to produce defensible LEX,8h calculations. The Regulations require assessments based on reliable, properly interpreted information.
How often should a noise assessment be reviewed?+
Assessments should be reviewed whenever there is reason to suspect they are no longer valid — new machinery, changed processes, layout changes, different shift patterns, failed controls, hearing complaints or new health surveillance findings. There is no single universal review interval that applies to every workplace.
Can weekly exposure be used instead of daily exposure?+
Weekly personal noise exposure (LEX,40h) may be used in place of daily exposure where exposure varies markedly from day to day, subject to the conditions in the Regulations. It is not a way to disregard unusually loud days, and peak sound pressure action values continue to apply regardless of any weekly averaging.
Need Help Applying the Noise at Work Regulations?
Speak to a UK workplace-noise specialist about a site-specific survey, exposure assessment, hearing protection review or occupational hygiene support. We respond to most enquiries the same working day.