Occupational noise level exposures outside and inside agricultural tractor cabs

Abstract

The farm tractor fleet in the Brazilian market has increased. They are machines known to emit much noise. Noise can cause severe damage and disturbance in people who work directly with and around these machines. Therefore, the work aimed to evaluate the noise levels emitted by two cab farm tractors of different engine power, analyzing the effect of engine speed and distance radius from the noise source on occupational health. The noise level outside and inside of the tractor cab, the attenuation index, and the noise level reduction provided by the cab sound insulation were determined. Attenuation indexes and noise reduction ratings were satisfactory in studying the noise levels inside and outside the tractor cab. The tractor with the most power in the engine has better sound insulation compared to those lowest power. The noise levels that operators are exposed to in the cab were lower than the limits established by Brazilian government laws. On the other hand, outside the cab, the noise levels emitted by the tractor of greater power are not safe for the workers' health if they are at a distance radius from the noise source of less than 7 m, requiring the use of an ear protector.

Prediction of Noise Levels According to Some Exploitation Parameters of an Agricultural Tractor: A Machine Learning Approach

“…The obtained values indicate that none of the investigated tractors produced a noise level higher than 80 dB(A), thus not exceeding the permissible limit. Souza et al [20] measured noise inside and outside the tractor on two tractors of different power. The obtained values did not exceed the permissible limit of 85 dB(A), and it was found that the TL85E tractor had lower measured values compared to the MF265 tractor.…”