UK Noise at Work Regulations: The Complete Employer Guide

If you run a workshop, factory, or any site where machinery, tools, or processes create sustained noise, the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 apply to you. The regulations set out what UK employers must do to protect workers from hearing damage — but most guidance stops at listing the rules and never explains what to do with them in practice.

This guide covers the regulations themselves, the three noise thresholds that trigger employer duties, and the practical steps that follow once you know your exposure levels.

This guide covers employer duties under UK regulations. It is not legal advice. Where specific situations require professional judgment, consult a competent noise assessor or legal adviser.

What the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 actually require

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 replaced the earlier 1989 rules and lowered the trigger thresholds by 5 dB(A). They came into force on 6 April 2006 for most sectors (6 April 2008 for music and entertainment).

The regulations place duties on employers, not employees. Your core obligations under the 2005 Regulations are set out across Regulations 4–10:

• Regulation 4 — defines the exposure action values and limit values
• Regulation 5 — requires you to assess health and safety risks from noise
• Regulation 6 — requires you to eliminate or control noise exposure
• Regulation 7 — covers hearing protection duties
• Regulation 8 — requires maintenance of noise control equipment
• Regulation 9 — requires health surveillance (hearing checks)
• Regulation 10 — requires information, instruction, and training for exposed workers

The full text is on legislation.gov.uk, and HSE's approved code of practice is published as L108: Controlling Noise at Work (free PDF download).

The three noise thresholds every employer needs to know

The regulations define three exposure levels. Each one triggers specific duties. These apply to daily or weekly personal noise exposure (LEP,d or LEP,w) and peak sound pressure (LCpeak).

Lower exposure action values

• 80 dB(A) daily or weekly average
• 135 dB(C) peak sound pressure

At this level you must:

1. Carry out a noise risk assessment (Regulation 5)
2. Make hearing protection available to any worker who asks for it (Regulation 7)
3. Provide information and training on noise risks, hearing protection, and health surveillance (Regulation 10)

Upper exposure action values

• 85 dB(A) daily or weekly average
• 137 dB(C) peak sound pressure

At this level you must also:

1. Take action to reduce noise exposure through controls (Regulation 6)
2. Ensure workers use hearing protection — it is no longer optional (Regulation 7)
3. Designate hearing protection zones with signage (Regulation 7)
4. Arrange health surveillance — typically audiometric testing — for exposed workers (Regulation 9)

Exposure limit value

• 87 dB(A) daily or weekly average (taking hearing protection into account)
• 140 dB(C) peak sound pressure

This is the absolute ceiling. Workers must not be exposed above this level. If they are, you must identify the cause and take immediate action to bring exposure below the limit.

Who needs a noise risk assessment?

Any employer whose workers may be exposed to noise levels at or above the lower action values needs a risk assessment. In practice, this means most manufacturing, construction, engineering, food processing, woodworking, and printing operations — plus any site with sustained use of powered tools, compressors, or machinery.

The assessment must:

• Identify who is exposed and where
• Estimate or measure exposure levels
• Identify what controls are already in place
• Decide what further action is needed
• Be reviewed whenever circumstances change

You do not always need a formal noise survey with specialist instruments. For some workplaces, a competent person can estimate exposure using manufacturer data and HSE's ready-reckoners. For others — especially where exposure is close to action values or varies significantly — a proper measurement survey is the right approach.

For a step-by-step process, see How to Complete a Noise Risk Assessment.

What counts as "competent" for a noise assessment?

The regulations require the assessment to be carried out by a competent person. HSE's guidance in L108 does not require formal qualifications in every case — it depends on the complexity of the noise environment.

For straightforward situations (a few machines, consistent operations), someone with appropriate training and access to manufacturer noise data may be competent. For complex or variable environments, you will typically need an acoustic consultant with calibrated instrumentation.

The key test: can the person carrying out the assessment reliably identify the risks, estimate exposure, and recommend proportionate controls?

Controlling noise exposure: the hierarchy

Regulation 6 requires you to reduce exposure so far as is reasonably practicable — not just hand out ear defenders. HSE expects you to follow a hierarchy of controls:

1. Eliminate the source — can the noisy process be replaced or removed?
2. Substitute — use quieter equipment or methods
3. Engineering controls — enclosures, barriers, damping, isolation mounts
4. Administrative controls — reduce time in noisy areas, rotate workers, adjust schedules
5. Hearing protection — last resort, used while other controls are being implemented or where they cannot reduce exposure enough

Hearing protection alone is not acceptable as a long-term control strategy. If your only measure is handing out ear plugs, you have a gap in your compliance approach.

Hearing protection zones and signage

Where daily exposure reaches or exceeds the upper action values (85 dB(A) or 137 dB(C) peak), you must mark the area as a hearing protection zone and ensure everyone entering it wears appropriate protection.

Signage should follow the HSE guidance on hearing protection zones — typically a blue mandatory sign showing ear defenders. The zone boundaries should be clearly defined, not vague.

To check whether your hearing protection zones meet the requirements, use the free Hearing Protection Zone Checklist.

Health surveillance: when hearing tests are required

Regulation 9 requires health surveillance for workers who are regularly exposed at or above the upper action values — or for any worker already known to have noise-induced hearing problems.

In practice, this means audiometric testing (hearing tests), typically:

• A baseline test when the worker first enters a noisy role
• Follow-up tests at regular intervals (usually annually for the first two years, then at intervals your occupational health provider recommends)
• Action on any detected hearing changes — referral, review of controls, possible redeployment

The operational challenge is not deciding that surveillance is needed — it is tracking who is due, recording results, and acting on findings. Spreadsheet reminders and paper records work until someone forgets to check them.

Information, instruction, and training

Regulation 10 requires you to tell workers:

• The nature of the noise risks they face
• What you are doing to control exposure
• How to use hearing protection correctly
• How to spot signs of hearing damage
• Their right to health surveillance

This is not a one-off induction slide. Training should be reviewed when equipment, processes, or exposure patterns change.

How often to review the assessment

The regulations do not specify a fixed review interval. Instead, Regulation 5 requires review when:

• There is reason to believe the assessment is no longer valid
• There has been a significant change in the work — new equipment, altered processes, different layouts, or changed staffing patterns
• Health surveillance results suggest the current controls are not working

A common practical approach: review at least every one to two years, and trigger an immediate review whenever a relevant change occurs. Log each review and its outcome — this is the evidence trail an inspector or insurer will ask for.

What happens if you do not comply

HSE enforces the regulations through inspection and investigation. Enforcement action ranges from:

• Improvement notices — requiring specific action within a set timescale
• Prohibition notices — stopping work until a risk is controlled
• Prosecution — for serious or persistent failures

Beyond enforcement, the practical risk is hearing damage claims. Noise-induced hearing loss is permanent, and employer liability claims for occupational deafness can and do arise in UK courts.

After the regulations: what most employers get wrong

The gap is rarely ignorance of the law. Most employers who run noisy operations know the regulations exist. The gap is in the follow-up:

• The assessment report sits in a filing cabinet or shared drive and is never reviewed
• PPE issue records are informal or missing
• Audiometry dates are tracked in a calendar that nobody checks
• Control measure reviews do not happen until the next inspection or claim

The regulations are the starting point. The harder work — and the part that protects both workers and the business — is maintaining an evidence trail of what you did after the assessment landed.

Practical next steps

If you are starting from scratch or reviewing your current position:

1. Check whether you need an assessment — if your workplace has regular noise from machinery, tools, vehicles, or processes, you almost certainly do
2. Get the assessment done — either by a competent internal person or an external consultant, depending on complexity
3. Act on the findings — implement controls following the hierarchy, not just hearing protection
4. Set up ongoing records — PPE issue, training, audiometry, and control measure reviews need a system, not a one-off effort
5. Review regularly — log each review trigger and outcome

For practical guidance on completing the assessment itself, read How to Complete a Noise Risk Assessment. To understand the specific dB thresholds and what they mean in practice, see UK Workplace Noise Exposure Limits. For help evaluating downloadable templates, see What to Look for in a Noise Risk Assessment Template.

You can also use the free Noise Exposure Calculator to estimate daily exposure from multiple sources, or start structuring your assessment with the Noise Risk Assessment Starter Template.

Sources

• The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 — legislation.gov.uk
• Noise at work: employers' responsibilities — HSE
• Noise at work: regulations — HSE
• L108: Controlling Noise at Work (3rd edition, 2021) — HSE