Conference_programme: 18.4 - Office noise : psychological effects and room acoustic design

Lecture: Measurement and classification of open plan offices within the field of occupational safety and health

Author(s): Schelle Florian, Selzer Jan

Summary:
Noise levels in open plan offices are typically not hazardous to the inner ear and thus will most likely not cause any hearing impairement. Nevertheless extra-aural noise can still have an impact on psychological and physiological health and therefore is becoming an increasingly important field of research for social accident insurance institutions in Germany. \nIn the course of a research project the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (IFA) is investigating the acoustical conditions in open plan offices. One main aspect of this project is to derive possibilities to simplify both measurement and classifcation for social accident insurance institutions. In this context two non-commercial web-applications have been developed by the IFA and will be presented. The parameters and methods of international standard DIN EN ISO 3382-3 as well as german guideline VDI 2569 have been examined by practical measurements. The results are presented along with a critical discussion on the suitability of parameters used for classification.

Corresponding author

Name: Dr Florian Schelle

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Country: Germany