Page 35 - 2016Spring

ognized for their comprehensive efforts to reduce noise exposure in their manufacturing operations for building industry products and aerospace systems throughout the corporation consisting of 212,000 employees in 180 coun- tries (United Technologies, 2015). UTC has set an objective to reduce 100% of employee noise exposures to below the 85-dBA eight-hour time-weighted average so that wearing personal protective devices will no longer be mandatory. UTC has been able to reduce the number of employees with exposures greater than 85 dBA from slightly more than 10,000 workers in 2010 to 2,000 workers in 2015. The tech- niques for reducing noise include building enclosures for some processes and substituting noisy tools for quieter ones. Mundane fixes, such as changing a solid plastic wheel on carts to wheels from in-line skates with bearings impacted 24 employees in one facility. These changes were made with the engagement and participation of the employees most fa- miliar with the jobs. In the acceptance presentation for the Safe-In-Sound Award (United Technologies, 2015), one em- ployee was quoted:
“The noise reduction project is one of the most sig- nificant employee engagement and safety initiatives I have participated in. Improvements were implement- ed within 6 months and 147 employees were removed from the HCP [Hearing Conservation Program]. I am very appreciative of all that has been done. Noise is a distraction and now I can be more attentive to my work.” Kathy Williams, Surface Treating Operator, Pratt & Whitney, 2014.
The interesting backstory to the UTC Award is that one of their subsidiaries, Pratt & Whitney, was among the first companies recognized with a Safe-In-Sound Award in 2009. Contrary to popular belief, good ideas can percolate upwards. The efforts within Pratt & Whitney were motiva- tion for the parent corporation to make noise reduction and hearing health a priority for all of its workers (Morata and Meinke, 2016).
Colgate Palmolive
In 2012, Colgate Palmolive also received a Safe-In-Sound Award for their efforts to reduce noise throughout their facil- ities in more than 200 countries. Colgate uses the threshold limit values (TLV) for exposures published by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (AC- GIH®) or the local regulations, whichever is more stringent. Colgate had four elements in their noise reduction strategy (Figure 5). The “Design Quiet” strategy leverages the Buy Quiet philosophy to identify new equipment that meets the
Figure 5. The four elements of Colgate Palmolive’s noise reduction strategy. From Colgate Palmolive (2012).
82-dBA sound power limit, and Colgate partnered with se- lected strategic suppliers to develop low-noise equipment. They also integrated quiet designs into their manufacturing plants to optimize the building envelop and equipment lay- out. This “Operate Quiet” strategy linked noise and mainte- nance.
Through the use of checklists and equipment-specific pro- cedures for maintenance, the equipment operating outside of the expected noise boundaries was repaired or replaced, consequently reducing noise in the workplace. Capability within the workforce was developed through practical train- ing and a webinar training series was provided to workers. A noise reduction handbook tailored to specific facilities was developed. In addition, an online noise network and an in- tranet noise site were created. Finally, noise was reduced at the source. Through a comprehensive approach to assess the noise of more than 60 pieces of equipment, best practice so- lutions were identified that could be executed with employ- ees in that facility. Each facility executed two noise projects per year, and implementation was used as a performance in- dicator across the corporation. For instance, the noise level of an air wand, used to clean surfaces, was reduced by 22 dB. Mufflers applied to some processes reduced noise levels by 17 dB. Overall, reductions for various parts of processes ranged between 5 and 26 dB (Colgate Palmolive, 2012).
Colgate Palmolive achieved their results through creating partnerships across a range of departments to identify and solve the noise problems. Partnerships engaged workers at all levels of the company (e.g., employee, supervisor, man- ager, contractor, equipment supplier, etc.). Key individuals took the lead to advocate for noise reduction throughout the company. The reduction of noise produced an ancillary ben- efit: reduced operating costs. For instance, compressed air exhaust was a significant noise source (more than 30% of all excess exposures) and accounted for about 15% of energy consumption. As the employee teams focused on solving the
Spring 2016 | Acoustics Today | 33