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Always monitor the sound pressure level when operating an amplification system in discotheques, concerts
etc. Never exceed the permissible noise level exposures as specified by your authorities. The monitoring of
the noise levels must be documented in an appropriate way.
In Germany, the follwing instructions are binding:
Strafgesetzbuch § 223 ff:
http://bundesrecht.juris.de/bundesrecht/stgb
TA Lärm:
http://www.umweltdaten.de/laermprobleme/talaerm.pdf
DIN 15905-5:
www.din.de
Arbeitsstättenverordnung § 15
http://www.lfas.bayern.de/recht/arbstaettv/arbstaettv.htm
Berufsgenossenschaftliche Vorschrift BGV B3:
http://www.pr-o.info
VDI-Richtlinie: VDI 2058 Blatt 2:
www.vdi.de
Hearing damage caused by high noise levels can be treated as physical injury and persecuted by law.
Please note that the organizer is responsible for keeping to a specified noise level. If this noise level will be
exceeded, the event may be cancelled immediately.
If the organiser does not fulfill his safety duties, he is reliable by civil law for any damages occured, e.g.:
Pay the treatment costs of the damaged person.
Pay a smart money to the damaged person.
Economic damage caused can be demanded from the operator of the amplification system.
If hired persons work with amplification systems: the noise levels of music events are almost always too high.
This is why the entrepreneur has to set up warning signs and provide hearing protectors. The staff has to
use these.
Please note:
OMNITRONIC cannot be made liable for damages caused by incorrect installations and
excessive noise levels!
Information on hearing loss
More and more young people suffer from hearing loss of 25 dezibel or more, mainly caused by loud music
from protable cassette recorders and CD-players or discotheques.
Everybody operating amplification systems should know to what sound pressure levels he exposes his or the
audience's hearing. As an average levels between 75 and 105 dB(A) in the discotheque or 95 and 115 dB(A)
at a rock concert are reached. Individual peaks can exceed the pain level at 130 dB(A). Such levels are
typical for motor chainsaws or jack hammers.
Overview on the different noise levels
10 dB
Heartbeat
20 - 30 dB Whisper
40 dB
Average home
50 dB
Light traffic
60 dB
Normal conversation
70 dB
Vacuum cleaner
80 dB
Heavy traffic or telephone ringing
90 dB
Pneumatic drill
100 dB
Power mower
120 dB
Boom box in car
130 dB
Pain level
140 dB
Jet plane 30 meters overhead
It is important to know that doubling the power increases the noise level by 3 dB. The human hearing does
only recognize a doubling of the sound level when the noise level is increasey by 10 dB. Damaging the
hearing does not depend on the sound level but on the noise level and starts way befor the pain level.
Many people deceive themselves by thinking that noise is something they can get accustomed to. It is
possible that a positive opinion of a certain noise can reduce the physiological reaction, but the slow impacts
on the inner hearing must not be neglected: over stimulation and continuous elimination of the Cortic organ's
hair cells.
