OSHA, Safety and event volumes

[OScubed]

Originally Posted by Boydean

I can see were you are coming from, but I have to say that I would disagree. I have been to appx. 5 regionals plus championships and I have to say that all of them were at a decent level(aka. loud enough to get the excitement, but then not to loud.). Also if the sound person at a competition is running it as loud as you were stating, he should be questioned, I have only seen a sound man push the system around 150db at a huge concert(and that was with v-dosc rig, so basically that thing can go to 180db with no problem). There are lots of ways to get a sound system to sound louder with out increasing db levels. But like I said before I agree that if its uncomfitbel with the levels just let them know, most of the they like to hear what other people think. But remember sound guys has one of the most stressful jobs at an event(this most likely does not apply with a FRC regional).

I am applying the standards listed in the articles above - please read them, these are reputable scientific articles on safe levels of noise - not people's opinions. According to the articles - permanent hearing loss occurs if you are exposed to sound levels that require you to raise your voice to be heard at a distance of 3 feet, or if ringing/muffled sounds occur after the event. Both of these were true. They define the "pain threshold" at 140db. I can tell you that - under the speakers at Philly - it was painful. And I was not the only one that thought so. I also said that continuous exposure at only 100db should not occur for more than 2 hours. It's both the volume AND the duration that matter when it comes to hearing loss. The articles above indicate that anything more than brief exposure to sound levels over 100db can cause permanent hearing loss.

We were basically told to "go away" by both event staff members and sound crew when we raised the issue. The sound crew was particularly rude, despite the fact that I was asking them very politely to consider whether the volume was too loud in parts of the stand. Nothing was done to lower the volume, and no one from either staff or sound crew came to the stands to measure or adjust the sound during the event.

I've been to literally dozens of concerts in my life - including some totally ripping techno concerts where you could feel the floor vibrate from the bass (I was - of course - wearing earplugs). I've certainly heard loud before

I don't own a dB meter, nor am I an audiologist. But I have a pair of ears and can implement simple tests per the above recommendations.