23
Legal Instructions
Operating an amplif ication system can produce
extremely high noise lev els that may cause a
permanent hearing loss. The legal instructions for using
an amplif ication system vary from country to country.
The user must alway s inf orm himself on the legal
instructions v alid in his country and apply them to his
situation.
Alway s monitor the sound pressure lev el when
operating an amplif ication system in discotheques,
concerts etc. Never exceed the permissible noise level
exposures as specif ied by your authorities. The
monitoring of the noise lev els must be documented in
an appropriate way .
In Germany , the f ollowing instructions are binding:
Straf gesetzbuch § 223 f f:
bundesrecht.juris.de/bundesrecht/stgb
TA Lärm: www.umweltdaten.de
DIN 15905-5: www.din.de
Arbeitsstättenverordnung § 15:
www.lgl.bay ern.de/arbeitsschutz
Beruf sgenossenschaftliche Vorschrift BGV B3: www.pr-
o.inf o
VDI-Richtlinie: VDI 2058 Blatt 2: www.v di.de
Hearing damage caused by high noise lev els can be
treated as phy sical injury and persecuted by law.
Please note that the organizer is responsible f or
keeping to a specif ied noise level. If this noise level will
be exceeded, the ev ent may be cancelled immediately.
If the organizer does not f ulf ill his safety duties, he is
reliable by civ il law f or any damages occurred, e.g.:
Pay the treatment costs of the damaged person. Pay a
smart money to the damaged person.
Economic damage caused can be demanded f rom the
operator of the amplif ication system.
If hired persons work with amplif ication systems: the
noise lev els of music events are almost always too
high. This is why the entrepreneur has to set up
warning signs and prov ide hearing protectors. The staff
has to use these.
OMNITRONIC cannot be made liable for damages
caused by incorrect installations and excessive
noise levels!
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Information on Hearing Loss
More and more y oung people suf fer from hearing loss
of 25 decibel or more, mainly caused by loud music
f rom portable MP3 and CD play ers or discotheques.
Ev ery body operating amplification systems should know
to what sound pressure lev els he exposes his or the
audience's hearing. As an av erage lev els 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 lev el at 130 dB(A). Such lev els are
ty pical f or motor chainsaws or jack hammers.
It is important to know that doubling the power
increases the noise lev el by 3 dB. The human hearing
does only recognize a doubling of the sound lev el when
the noise lev el is increased by 10 dB. Damaging the
hearing does not depend on the sound lev el but on the
noise lev el and starts way before the pain lev el.
Many people deceiv e themselves by thinking that noise
is something they can get accustomed to. It is possible
that a positiv e opinion of a certain noise can reduce the
phy siological reaction, but the slow impacts on the inner
hearing must not be neglected: ov er stimulation and
continuous elimination of the Cortic organ's hair cells.
The reason why some people hav e got accustomed to
a certain noise lev el and are no longer disturbed is that
they hav e already suffered a hearing damage. This
damage makes the insensitive to those frequencies
f orming the loudest part of the noise. Getting
accustomed to noise does not mean any thing other
than try ing to get along with the hearing loss in
ev ery day life. The hearing loss itself cannot be healed;
it can only be compensated by hearing aids.
Subjectiv ely, the hearing loss feels like dampened ears.
This ef f ect weakens with the time, but a loss in hearing
sensitiv ity often remains.
In order to relax the hearing suf f iciently, the noise level
should not exceed 70 dB(A) f or 10 hours. Higher noise
lev els during this relaxing period can prev ent the
relaxation and promote a permanent hearing damage
(Tinnitus) or hearing loss. Theref ore: Whoever wants to
maintain his hearing should use hearing protectors!
Ov erv iew on the Dif f erent Noise Lev els
10 dB
Heartbeat
80 dB Heav y traffic or telephone ringing
20-30 dB Whisper
90 dB Pneumatic drill
40 dB
Av erage home
100 dB Power mower
50 dB
Light traf f ic
120 dB Boom box in car
60 dB
Normal conv ersation
130 dB Pain lev el
70 dB
Vacuum cleaner
140 dB Jet plane 30 meters ov erhead
