OSHA Noise Standards and FIRST Events

[Bongle]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

I have been watching this thread for a while now and can't hold back my opinion. I think you guys are taking this way to far. First of all OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is primarily focused with safety levels at work. I don't see why, besides the fact that they have a sound standard, that they would be relevant.

The next thing I propose is that FIRST events are supposed to be loud. They are in the same domain as rock concerts and sporting events. I highly doubt any of you go to a basketball game and complain about it being too loud. Yet alone petition the NBA to make the music softer.

One of the things that makes FIRST events fun is the music and excitement and overwhelming feeling at the events. If we had competitions in a quiet environment like a chess tournament would people still want to go and watch?

The way I see it is a better approach if you are worried about the sound is to just bring earplugs. Or if you want to promote safety hand out earplugs. But going to the extent to try and get a deal on equipment to measure the sound levels seems excessive to me.

What ever happened to "If it's too loud then you are too old"

I think comparing a FRC event to a rock concert or sporting event is not a good comparison. Although the goal is to be like those events in terms of excitement, you're never going to fit a regional into the 2 hours of a concert or basketball game. A dangerously loud environment for 3 days straight is much harder on the ears than that same environment for just a few hours.

Mostly I care about the pit volume level. I'm totally fine with the field area being loud, but in the pits, I want to be able to communicate with the rest of my team without losing my voice and my hearing. Wearing earplugs isn't an ideal solution because they can make it difficult to communicate within the pits.