Assessment of occupational noise exposure in coffee grinding shops Omaimah Ali Al-Arja ⇑ , Tala Samir Awadallah Department of Architecture and Interior Architecture, School of Architecture and Built Environment, German Jordanian University, Muath Bin Jabal Street, Jabal Amman, Amman, Jordan article info Article history: Received 12 April 2019 Received in revised form 13 September 2019 Accepted 17 September 2019 Keywords: Sound pressure levels Occupational noise exposure measurements Coffee grinding noise abstract This study investigates noise exposure for workers in coffee grinding shops CGS in the Arab Region. The investigation is conducted by identifying the levels of noise produced by coffee grinding machines, quan- tification of noise potential impacts on workers, comparison of measured values with local and interna- tional recommended average exposure values, and setting recommendations for better indoor working environment. Indoor working conditions and settings in terms of noise levels were assessed for 100 workers in 13 CGS, in Amman-Jordan as a case study. Noise exposure measurements were performed on site, and action values were calculated and compared with local and international standards. Results showed that workers working continuously for prolonged periods are at greater risk of being exposed to noise levels exceeding the upper action values. The mean average of personal noise exposure for workers at CGS was 86 dB(A); ranging from 82 to 89 dB(A). Communication difficulties, annoyance, low productivity, feeling fatigue, impatience, and complains of loss of hearing were registered. Reverberation Time (RT) was measured in each CGS; Relationship between the RT, noise ambient and space properties ‘‘interior finishing materials” was detected. In conclusion, results from this study demonstrate that health and safety risks resulting from prolonged exposure to noise from coffee grinding machines is an urgent mater that requires further investigations. Setting rules and regulations as well as introducing new laws and regulations are highly recommended as preventive measures against negative health and safety issues associated with this profession. Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Noise can be identified as unwanted sound it is a physical hazard and environmental risk that is threaten- ing the health of inhabitants and leading to diseases in the popula- tion. The environmental noise is a harmful sound created by human activities, such as transportation noise generated from roads, railways and air traffic, and noise originating from industrial plants (European Union [8]), while the occupational noise is defined as any unwanted sound being produced in working envi- ronments (World Health Organization [44], Several previous stud- ies have demonstrated that increased exposure to high levels of noise leads to various health and safety related consequences [42] and [16]. In recent years, many studies have emerged in order to prevent people for being impacted by noise. Constant exposure to noise leads to health issues such as sleep disturbance (Muzet [36,22] annoyance [28] and [30], cardiovascular effects [2,3] hearing loss [25] learning impairment [26,6] hypertension ischemic heart dis- ease [19]. Disturbing the physical and psychological activities, reducing the productivity and performance [7], poor communica- tion and increased chance of accidents [43], are among the many consequences of prolonged noise exposure. Similarly, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has exten- sively described such consequences [38]. Furthermore, a recent document published by the World Health Organization (World Health Organization [44], ‘‘Burden of Disease from environmental noise”, has provided evidence-based descrip- tion of the consequences of environmental noise on health. Accord- ing to the document, noise is considered as one of the most common physical factors contributing to increased risk of environ- mental and occupational health hazards in the workplace. Addi- tionally, noise pollution has been ranked as the second among several environmental stressors for its public health impact on a group of European countries [9]. Prevention of noise impact on health includes understanding, even in real time, the noise levels in the area and thus recent appli- cation consist of using wireless sensor network for noise monitor- ing [45] representing a modern and cheap solution to fulfil with the mandatory noise maps and action plans [27]. In outdoor https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2019.107047 0003-682X/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: omaimah.ali@gju.edu.jo (O.A. Al-Arja). Applied Acoustics 158 (2020) 107047 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Applied Acoustics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apacoust