Abstract
Noise and vibration control can affect the health and safety of persons employed on offshore installations in a number of ways.
Noise can be directly injurious to health; prolonged exposure to high levels of noise, or short duration exposure to very high levels, will permanently impair hearing. High levels of vibration can cause sickness and loss of balance. Both noise and vibration induce stress which is cumulative with other stresses such that, in a hazardous and demanding work environment, errors of judgement can be made and working efficiency reduced. High noise levels can also mask public address and alarm systems, and interfere with speech, telephone and radio communication. Finally, much lower levels of noise and vibration may prevent or disturb sleep and relaxation.
For these reasons, serious consideration must be given to the control of noise and vibration on offshore installations. There are now the knowledge, expertise and hardware to control satisfactorily noise and vibration in the majority of situations, but there are a number of limiting factors, including cost and engineering feasibility, and the interaction with other safety measures. The cost of noise and vibration control features, if included at the design stage, has been estimated to be from 1 to 10% of the total topside cost of an offshore installation, depending on its size and complexity. If they are initially omitted and noise and vibration have to be treated retrospectively, then this cost can easily be doubled, and engineering feasibility will limit what can be achieved.
