Unhealthy occupational exposure to noise in nightclubs and lack of employee awareness

Abstract

Music is widely used in leisure activities, but environments with high sound intensity such as nightclubs may expose workers to the unhealthy level of sound pressure. Excessive noise has been associated with hearing impairment, difficulty in verbal communication, increased psychological tension and lower level of attention of workers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sound pressure level of electronically amplified music through 25 measurements in triplicate in the different nightclub environments installed in the city of Cascavel (Brazil) during the presentation of disk jockey and with live sound. By anamnesis, he verified the perception of the employees in the exposure unhealthy. The results showed that all employees exposed to unmitigated excessive noise, 18.8% said that the music and noise in the place affect their function and everyone perceives the buzzing after the end of the journey. No employee interviewed uses Individual protection equipment, with 27.1% complaining about the occupational discomfort caused by the protector, while 50% of the reasons characterized by the lack of awareness of the interviewees. It´s concluded that the noise agent in nightclubs is serious and imminent, culminating in occupational illness if isn´t mitigated by the use of protection equipment and the implementation of risk management programs and employee awareness.