Noise pollution at work

Loud noises are a frequent problem at a lot of different workplaces, especially in open plan offices. This in particular is a problem for small and medium sized companies as they often do not have the resources to add another room for noisy activities.

The question why noise and the disruption by it is a problem, is the topic of many discussions. In November 2015 the German national institution for protection of labor and occupational health invited experts on this topic for a discussion. The experts came to the result that noise pollution at the workplace leads to a decrease in performance of the employees and therefore it is a source of mistakes. Furthermore, the experts concluded that a high level of noise has a negative impact on health and satisfaction of employees.

In April 2014, the German magazine “Der Spiegel” published an interview with the university professor Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hellbrück from the catholic university of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. He is a psychologist, a professor for work, health and environment psychology as well as a researcher of noise effects. According to his opinion, noise of 80 decibel is dangerous for the health. A driving car with the speed of 50 kilometers per hour produces 78 decibel which is the same amount as an average packaging tape produces during the roll off process. Thus, it can be concluded that both source of noise are dangerous for the health and therefore packaging tape which pollutes noise during the roll off process is a real problem. For smaller and medium sized companies it has especially an impact on the office environment as the user cannot easily change the location. In order to save costs but still invest in the health of the employees, these firms can use a low noise tape from tesa® instead.

In addition, in the interview Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hellbrück states that humans who work under pressure are more affected by noise pollution. The responsibility for the success of the company lies on a fewer people in small and medium sized companies compared to bigger firms. Consequently, employees of such firms should be even better protected from noise pollution to ensure that their performance will not decline. One action to ensure their performance are tesa® low noise tapes.

Moreover, the law code of protection of labor states that the employer is obligated to protect employees from any harm. The paragraphs 3 and 4 define the duties of each employer. According to the law code each employer has to take the necessary measure to ensure the protection. As stated above, loud noises are a harm and therefore the employer is obligated to defend its employees.

Packaging tape of tesapack® support a calm work atmosphere
tesa® as a manufacturing company has responsibilities for the safety of its own employees. However, with the low noise packaging tapes tesa® can also contribute to the health and safety of employees from other firms. Noise pollution by loud tapes is an issue for all kinds of firms. It has the same effect on small law firm which return documents to their clients as well as on bigger online trading companies firms.

Packaging tape as a source for noise pollution might not be an obvious issue in order to ensure a calm atmosphere at work. But as said earlier, loud packaging tape is as noisy as a car driving by.