ABSTRACT
Noise enables us to communicate, and can create pleasure in the form of music and speech. However, exposure to excessive noise can damage hearing. Noise is usually defined as ‘unwanted sound’, but in strict terms noise and sound are the same. Noise at work can be measured using a sound-level meter. Sound is transmitted as waves in the air, travelling between the source and the hearer. The frequency of the waves is the pitch of the sound, and the amount of energy in the sound wave is the amplitude.
