Noise in communities comes from many sources affecting all types of housing across all locations. Whether it’s poorly managed summer celebrations broadcast across the counties, urban venues and residents that shouldn’t be neighbours, or ill considered pastimes and parties - we can be disturbed and annoyed by noise where ever we are. This is why Noise Action Week, which aims to raise awareness of the issues and promote solutions, continues to be well supported by […]

Even moderate levels of noise (similar to a busy street) may damage hearing. Tracey Pollard is Research Programme Manager in the Biomedical research Team at UK charity Action on Hearing Loss. She tells us about ‘hidden hearing loss’ and some of the research Action on Hearing Loss is funding into noise-induced hearing loss. Hidden hearing loss Exposure to very loud sounds (such as a chainsaw) can permanently damage your hearing and cause significant hearing loss. […]

Noise Action Week 19th - 20th May 2014 – is here to help Noise is never out of the news for long – whether it’s Brian May’s bother with Kensington basement builders or suburban dog owners being fined for neglecting barking pets. The evidence against noise is clear – last year housing think tank Hact1 found noise has a greater impact on people’s happiness than vandalism or condensation. A recent report on environmental groups2 found […]

High-speed hand dryers are an engineering success story, chiming with the prevailing agenda of austerity and sustainability, but what is the trade off? As someone with normal hearing, Dr. John Drever found the new generation of power hand dryers in WC’s intrusive. On becoming a father he became aware of how the sudden triggering of aggressive sound in a quiet space can panic children and others sensitive to noise – prompting his investigation of the […]

Noise - Read all about it With a long Bank Holiday weekend ahead what better than a quiet read? Over the last few years a wealth of books have been published on aspects of noise and sound. Sound is important in everything we do – we need it for information, enjoy (or are sometimes annoyed by) natural sounds like the waves and birdsong, and it is an essential part of entertainment and fun. However, the […]

Work to raise awareness of the public health and environmental impacts of noise has seen sporadic progress, and like air pollution, noise only comes to the wider attention of public and policy makers when it causes extreme problems. Noise Action Week gives an opportunity for everyone working to reduce the impact of noise to be heard. Last week we saw air pollution, often dubbed the silent killer, reveal itself. Saharan dust enhanced the visibility of […]

Every year the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health collect data on noise complaints and enforcement from local authorities, which informs policy in public health and environmental protection. Principal Policy Officer Howard Price sets out the purpose of the annual survey. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) is calling on local authorities to undertake its annual noise survey and report numbers and type of noise complaints. Most recently, the annual noise survey has been the […]

Mediation North Surrey (MNS) work closely with the pollution service on noise related issues within the community of Elmbridge. We also conduct neighbourhood mediation in Runnymede and Spelthorne. Mediation helps people explore their problems and is conducted in a safe confidential manner, to reach solutions acceptable to all parties without the added anxiety and expense of legal intervention. During last years’ Noise Action Week we were involved in “live tweeting” - raising awareness of our services […]

Noise as a human rights issue often hits headlines - most recently in Copenhagen where residents won a case against construction work blighting their homes. Acoustic consultant and blogger on noise issues, Gwyn Mapp of Amledd, examines the evolution of human rights regulation and how this can be applied in noise cases. The topic of human rights receives a lot of negative coverage from some elements of the British press. This coverage has led to […]

Its National Science and Engineering Week, and Dr Mike Goldsmith, scientist, acoustician and author, considers how his own history of noise exposure has affected his hearing health, and why we should all listen to scientists when it comes to the effect noise has on our hearing. As a scientist and noise historian, I have been known to look back with regret to those halcyon days, sometime after the Second World War, during which, when scientists […]