Navy noise

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has commissioned engineering consultancy Frazer-Nash to undertake a noise hazard assessment of its Royal Navy fleet.

The study will focus on the impact of noise on communications procedures onboard a variety of vessels, as well as assessing the risk of high noise levels to the health of personnel.

The work will initially be undertaken on selected vessels; however, the MoD plans to increase the number of project teams to assess the majority of the Royal Navy surface fleet.

Kevin Hamson, project manager at Frazer-Nash, said: ‘There are wide implications of noise onboard a ship.

'The most obvious are long-term health-related issues, such as hearing loss, but there are also less obvious health implications associated with low-level noise.

‘Aside from health, we’ve applied a systems approach to look at the wider repercussions of noise.

'For example, an intercom located close to a ventilation shaft might lead to difficulty in hearing a message accurately.