Noise at Work for UK Trades — Hearing Protection, the Law and Exposure Limits (2026)

What the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 Require

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 place legal duties on employers (and the self-employed) to protect workers from the effects of noise. The core principle is simple: you must assess the risk, do something about it at source where you can, and provide protection where you can't. The Regulations are built around a set of trigger levels — measured in decibels (dB) — and the higher the noise, the more you are legally required to do.

Crucially, the duty is not just "hand out some earplugs". The law expects you to eliminate or reduce noise at source first, treat hearing protection as a last line of defence, and put in place health surveillance for those regularly exposed. Sole traders are not exempt: if your own work exposes you to harmful noise, the Regulations expect you to manage that risk too.

The Key Numbers — Action Values and the Limit Value

There are three trigger points you need to know. The first two are measured as a daily or weekly average exposure (written as L_EP,d), and each also has a peak sound pressure value for sudden, very loud noises like a nail gun or cartridge tool. The third is an absolute ceiling.

Lower Exposure Action Value (LEAV) — 80 dB

At a daily or weekly average of 80 dB (or a peak of 135 dB), you reach the lower action value. At this point you must assess the risk, provide information and training to workers about the risks, and make hearing protection available to anyone who asks for it. It does not have to be compulsory yet — but it must be there for those who want it.

Upper Exposure Action Value (UEAV) — 85 dB

At a daily or weekly average of 85 dB (or a peak of 137 dB), the rules tighten significantly. Now you must take action to reduce noise exposure using practical control measures (not just PPE), hearing protection becomes mandatory, and you must designate and mark hearing protection zones with signage and restrict access to them. You also need to provide health surveillance — typically audiometry (hearing tests) — for affected workers.

Exposure Limit Value (ELV) — 87 dB

The exposure limit value of 87 dB (or a peak of 140 dB) is an absolute ceiling that must not be exceeded. The important difference: the limit value takes the effect of hearing protection into account. In other words, the noise actually reaching the worker's ear — after the protectors have done their job — must stay below 87 dB. If it doesn't, you must act immediately to bring it back down.

Quick Rule-of-Thumb Tests for Site

You won't always have a sound meter to hand, so the HSE provides simple indicators that tell you when noise is likely to be a problem. These are not a substitute for a proper assessment, but they are a reliable warning sign:

• If you have to shout to be heard by someone about 2 m away, the noise is likely to be around 85 dB or more — at or above the upper action value.
• If you have to shout to be heard by someone only about 1 m away, levels are likely around 90 dB.
• If your ears are ringing or sounds feel dull at the end of the day, you have been overexposed — that is a clear sign of damage.

In practice, most powered hand tools and machinery used in the trades comfortably exceed 85 dB at the operator's ear. An angle grinder can sit around 95–100 dB, a breaker or road saw higher still. Treat the question as "how loud and for how long", not "is it loud".

Why Short Bursts Still Add Up

A common mistake is assuming you only need protection for jobs where you're running a loud tool all day. Daily exposure is a cumulative average — short bursts of very loud work count towards it, and at high levels they count fast. Because the decibel scale is logarithmic, every 3 dB increase roughly doubles the sound energy, which means the "safe" exposure time halves.

As a rough guide, an exposure of 85 dB averaged over 8 hours is the upper action value. But at 91 dB you reach the same daily dose in around 2 hours; at 100 dB in roughly 15 minutes; and at 107 dB in only a few minutes. So a couple of short sessions on an angle grinder or breaker can put a worker over the action values for the whole day even if the rest of the shift is quiet. This is why "I only cut for ten minutes" is no defence.

Employer Duties — Step by Step

If you employ people or control a site, the Regulations set out a clear hierarchy. Working through it in order is both the legal expectation and the genuinely effective way to protect your team.

• Assess the risk: Identify where noise exposure is likely to reach the action values, using tool data, the shout test, and where needed a competent noise assessment with a calibrated meter. Record what you find.
• Eliminate or reduce at source: This comes before PPE. Buy or hire quieter tools, use job rotation to limit any one person's exposure, increase distance from the noise source, enclose or screen noisy plant, and maintain equipment so it doesn't run louder than it should.
• Provide hearing protection: Make it available from 80 dB; make it mandatory from 85 dB and mark out hearing protection zones with signage.
• Maintain and check it: Provide the right protectors, keep them in good condition, replace worn parts, and make sure workers actually wear them correctly — protection that's round the neck or pushed off the seal does nothing.
• Health surveillance: Provide audiometry for workers regularly exposed above the upper action value, so early signs of hearing loss are caught before they become severe.
• Information, instruction and training: Tell workers about the risks, the levels they face, how to use and look after their protection, and how to report problems.

Choosing Hearing Protection

Hearing protection comes in two main forms: over-ear defenders (ear muffs) and in-ear plugs (disposable foam, reusable, or custom-moulded). Both are rated using an SNR (Single Number Rating) — the higher the SNR, the more noise the protector attenuates. To choose correctly you subtract the protector's rating from the measured noise level to estimate the level reaching the ear, which must fall below 87 dB but not be cut too far.

That last point matters more than most people realise: don't over-protect. If protectors cut the noise so much that the worker feels completely isolated, they won't hear warnings, vehicles, or colleagues — and they'll often take the protectors off to communicate, leaving themselves exposed. As a rule of thumb, aim to bring the level at the ear down to somewhere around 70–80 dB, not as low as possible.

• Ear defenders: Easy to fit and remove, good for intermittent loud tasks, and you can see at a glance if they're being worn. Bulkier and can clash with other PPE.
• Ear plugs: Comfortable for all-day wear and compatible under helmets, but only effective if inserted properly — train workers on the roll-and-insert technique for foam plugs.
• Compatibility: Check that defenders fit with hard hats, eye protection and RPE (dust masks/respirators) — a defender that breaks the seal of safety glasses, or vice versa, defeats both.
• Comfort: The best protector is the one that gets worn. If it's uncomfortable, it ends up round the neck.

Quick Reference: Noise Action and Limit Values (UK)

Record-Keeping and the Long-Tail Claims Risk

Hearing loss claims are a slow burn. Because the damage builds over years, a worker may bring a noise-induced hearing loss claim long after they've left your employment — and these claims can run into tens of thousands of pounds. Your defence rests almost entirely on your paperwork: noise risk assessments, evidence that you provided and enforced hearing protection, records of training, and the results of health surveillance over time.

Keep your risk assessments, audiometry results, training sign-offs and PPE issue records organised and easy to retrieve — for current and former workers alike. A tool like Trade2Base can help you store training certificates and health-surveillance records against each team member, so when you need to show three years of audiometry or prove someone was trained in 2026, it's a few clicks away rather than a box of lost paper.

Treat noise the way you treat any other site hazard: identify it, control it at source, protect against what's left, and document the lot. Your crew's hearing — and your business — depend on it. Keeping the training and health-surveillance side of this in Trade2Base means you're never scrambling for records the day an inspector or a solicitor comes calling.