Human Performance under the Impact of Continuous and Intermittent Noise in a Manual Machining Task

Abstract

Experimental research was conducted to determine the performance of operators while carrying out industrial tasks in the presence of continuous and intermittent noise. Experimental investigations were carried out at 90, 95, 100 and 105 dB (A) for both types of noise. Two groups of subjects, one having a working experience of 2-7 years and other with 7-12 years were selected for the two studies. The number of units produced was taken as the measure of human performance. The results of the study showed that the level of noise and working experience were statistically significant when the task was carried out in a continuous noise environment. While under intermittent noise conditions effects of noise and work experience and the interaction effect of noise and work experience were all observed to be statistically significant. Investigations also revealed that intermittent noise had a more detrimental effect on performance when compared with continuous noise.