by SUSAN MANN
Almost one-third of Ontario’s farms must now comply with new noise protection requirements for workers under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The new noise regulation under the Act came into effect July 1 and applies to all farming operations with paid workers, Labour Ministry spokesperson Janet Deline says by email.
Farms without paid employees don’t fall under the Act.
The new noise regulation also applies to other sectors, such as mining and the oil and gas industry.
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson Bianca Jamieson says by email their figures, based on the 2011 Census, show about 16,000 of the 52,000 farms in Ontario reported hiring labour on their operations.
Deline says the new noise regulation “will help protect Ontario’s workers from noise-induced hearing loss, a leading cause of occupational disease for Ontario workers.”
Under the regulation, the maximum allowable limit for noise exposure is 85 decibels during an eight-hour shift.
A decibel is the unit used to measure the intensity of sound.
The regulation also stipulates measures employers must put in place to reduce workers’ exposure to noise, such as engineering controls, work practices, and the use of personal protective equipment like hearing protection, Deline says. Employers must also provide workers with hearing protection devices and train them on their use.
In an online article on its website, Ontario Pork says the maximum allowable limit of 85 decibels for noise exposure over eight hours is the standard outlined in the regulation. However a limit of 80 decibels is recommended.
There’s also a concern about short-term noise exposure. “As part of farm life, noise exposure is often taken for granted but could cause gradual, permanent hearing loss,” according to the article. That’s because “the short-term duration of high-pitched noise may be enough to exceed the eight-hour exposure.”
The article provided some sample farm noise levels, including:
- Chicken coop and conventional voices – 60 to 70 decibels.
- Tractor idling, conveyors – 80 decibels.
- Diesel trucks, power lawn mowers – 95 decibels.
- Power tools – 100 decibels.
- Pig squealing – can hit 109 decibels.
- Chain saw – 118 decibels.
Farmers under the Act should keep records of everything, from testing equipment for noise levels to training workers, the article says.
Ministry of Labour inspectors will be encouraging compliance with the new regulation, particularly with the training aspect of it.
“Let your records demonstrate your commitment to protecting workers’ hearing,” the article says. BF
Comments
My great-great-grand father received a land grant in a lovely part of Ontario, north of what we call Toronto today, known for growing good wheat.
Listening to the bumble bees, crickets, birds and other creatures was part of the peaceful allure on the farm life.
To get the grant, he had to first clear the frontage of his property, cede that 33 feet to the Crown for public use and then maintain the road min. 6 days a year. Stone and boards for spring passage were mandatory expenses when needed. The house he built (and later rebuilt) is approx. 400 feet from the road allowance. Sitting on the porch on a Sunday, watching the neighbors coming from church in their "Sunday" buggies was a social event. The horses made nary a sound when passing on the sandy road.
Fast forward to today.
The road ceded to the Crown is now a very busy highway. Big rigs carrying goods to and from Toronto constantly pass by the house every week day along with commuter travel and then the cottage traffic on weekends. There is a steady stream of traffic everyday.
Sitting on my porch, I pulled out my smart phone and activated the sound meter app to measure the noise level. The noise from the road was measurable and constant. The big rigs were measuring 90 bB, well above the acceptable limits. A bumble bee buzzed near me to get a taste of my flowers on the porch measured another 6.6 dB on the meter!!!
But the government, in their wisdom, has decreed that if I plant strawberries on my property, I will now have to issue ear protection for workers, hoeing or picking, as the noise limits exceed acceptable levels even though the noise is outside my control and off property. Species at risk, bumble bees and such are adding to cumulative sound levels.
We have to deal with migrant noises that the government in effect has created, takes no responsibility, receives a huge benefit with the traffic flow to-and-from Toronto, (protecting bumble bees bobolink birds, etc) but sticks us with undue hardships and liability.
As the government is receiving the benefits, where is their obligation in regards of migrant noise affecting farmers and their families?
I am all for employee safety but find safety should be an employees responsibility as well. The dress code to work in industry requires safety boots, probably hard hat, welding helmet hi vis clothing gloves etc. Hearing protection is a similar requirement. What frustrates me is walking down an urban street under construction with jack hammers pounding and no hearing protection is issued to the pedestrians or the shopkeeper also in harms way. Why is this measurable noise violation treated different? Is the most lacking void in rural Ont noise absorbed by employees on farms? Another liberal make work project for urban overseers with associated fines and cost ascribed to farmers with no place to pass this added cost on.
Can ya tell I am fed up with liberal government
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