Bid to silence EC noise cut plans

It’s all hush-hush, but frantic behind-the-scenes efforts are going on to silence Euro-MPs demanding draconian cuts in noise levels in pubs, clubs, karaoke bars and the orchestra pits and concert halls of the European Union.

Football venues and other noisy sports attractions could be hit too by plans for what amounts to a 50% cut in permitted noise levels assaulting citizens’ ears.

European Commission proposals would pitch maximum noise exposure limit levels to 87 decibels, down from 90. The limits would apply at work and workers include musicians, bar staff, and sports ground employees.

And although the noise reduction seems a small cut, the complicated mathematics of sound means it is a big enough reduction to hit the leisure industry hard.

‘‘Don’t ask me how it works, but because decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale, this difference of three decibels means a reduction of 50%,’’ said Conservative Euro-MP Struan Stevenson.

Mr Stevenson says the problem is acute because the new plans would ban excessive noise on the basis of its loudest output on every occasion, instead of averaging the impact across a week, as recommended by the UK Health and Safety executive.

He said: ‘‘The whole thing is unrealistic unless noise is averaged out over a whole week a set of bagpipes can reach 130 decibels when played.’’

If MEPs back the plans as proposed next week, anyone listening to a pipe band or any other noisy event which registers more than 87 decibels at any point would have to wear earplugs under the terms of the Directive on ‘‘minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (noise)’’.

Workers in noisy environments - factories, airports and so on - already wear ear protection, but Mr Stevenson says the drive to reduce the levels at which rules apply has overlooked the impact on other sectors.

He is fighting for a total exemption from the noise laws for the leisure and entertainment industry.

A European Parliament report by Danish Socialist MEP Helle Thorning-Schmidt - daughter-in-law of Commissioner Neil Kinnock - calls for even tougher laws, with a maximum 83 decibel level.

But that it is unlikely to win much support. It would, said Mr Stevenson, be disastrous, driving hundreds of firms either out of business or out of the European Union.

Even a level of 87 decibels would be hard for industry to apply, he says, and could devastate economies.

‘‘We have this one chance next week to get weekly averaging of noise levels reinstated. Otherwise it will not just be bagpipes that will be affected.

‘‘A busy pub with music can generate 90 decibels when it gets going, but only 75 decibels on average when measured over a week.’’

Experts say a few people can be exposed continuously for 40 years above 90 decibels and suffer no health effects, but about 8% of people exposed continuously to 85 decibels over 40 years will suffer moderate hearing disability.

Extremely loud noise (130-140 decibels) can cause pain and possibly immediate damage. But one-off or short-term over-exposures below that level will not result in permanent hearing loss.

Could you stand the noise? Typical sound levels are:

:: 0 decibels (the faintest audible whisper);

:: 10 decibels (a quiet whisper or leaves rustling);

:: 30 decibels (subdued speech;

:: 60 decibels (a busy office or normal conversation at 1 metre);

:: 80 decibels (traffic on a busy street);

:: 90 decibels (a heavy lorry about 7 metres away);

:: 100 decibels (a foundry in operation or a pneumatic drill, or, the experts say, a piggery at feeding time);

:: 120 decibels (a jet engine, which is about 2,000 times the noise intensity of the new proposed maximum limit value of 87 decibels).