A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Public Health: Occupational Hygiene
Johannesburg, June 2017 / Introduction
The quantification and interpretation of personal noise exposure levels in the platinum processing industry of South Africa is an important research topic. Very few studies have been done nationally and internationally on noise exposure in this industry, given the serious health effects of over exposure to noise and the large number of people employed in this industry, this study is important.
Objectives
The objectives of this study were to describe personal noise exposure measurements of permanent and long term contractor employees during 2012 to 2014 at five Platinum Concentrator operations; to compare the personal noise exposure levels of the different activity areas between the five Platinum Concentrator operations; and to compare the personal noise exposure measurements of the Platinum Concentrator operations to national and international exposure limits.
Methods
This study was a cross-sectional secondary data analysis of personal noise exposure levels measured as part of routine Occupational Hygiene sampling programme during the period of 2012 to 2014 and was done in five platinum concentrator operations situated in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. A total of 720 samples were extracted from an electronic database and descriptive statistics were applied to analyse the data.
Results
This study found that the Processor Grade 2 occupation within platinum concentrator no.3 had the highest personal noise exposure (104.7dBA) with a median personal noise exposure of 87.35dBA and a geometric mean personal noise exposure of 87.4dBA. Sixty seven percent of the personal noise measurements within the five Concentrator Operations exceeded the South African Occupational Exposure Limit of 85dBA and 19.71% of the personal noise measurement results exceeded the OSHA Exposure Limit of 90dBA.
Conclusion
This study indicated that over exposure to noise in the platinum processing industry can occur; therefore further research on this topic and in this industry is warranted. / MT2017
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/23345 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Deysel, Willem Bernardus |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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