Chronic Exposure to Noise in Industry

A field study (N = 62) is reported comparing two industries that had comparably high noise levels during the pretest phase; one of the two factories was subsequently moved to a new site with strongly reduced noise levels, whereas the control industry remained in the same building as during pretesting. The main prediction was that the reduction of noise in the experimental organization would lead to greater environmental satisfaction, greater job satisfaction, reduced stress symptoms, reduced difficulty of communication, a more positive company image, and greater attachment to the company. No changes from pretest to posttest were expected in the control industry for any of these variables. The hypotheses were fully confirmed, suggesting that environmental conditions reliably affect not only the worker’s physical and psychological well-being but also organizationally relevant variables such as image of and attachment to the company, which have largely been ignored by previous research.

[1]  S. Stansfeld,et al.  Noise, noise sensitivity and psychiatric disorder: epidemiological and psychophysiological studies. , 1993, Psychological medicine.

[2]  Eric Sundstrom,et al.  Office Noise, Satisfaction, and Performance , 1994 .

[3]  K. E. Mathews,et al.  ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE LEVEL AS A DETERMINANT OF HELPING BEHAVIOR , 1975 .

[4]  Dylan Marc Jones,et al.  1 – Noise and Performance , 1992 .

[5]  Andrew P. Smith,et al.  Handbook of human performance , 1992 .

[6]  B Bergström,et al.  Development of hearing loss during long-term exposure to occupational noise. A 20-year follow-up study. , 1986, Scandinavian audiology.

[7]  R Hétu,et al.  Mismatches between auditory demands and capacities in the industrial work environment. , 1994, Audiology : official organ of the International Society of Audiology.

[8]  J. Gallacher,et al.  Road traffic noise, noise sensitivity and psychological disorder , 1993, Psychological Medicine.

[9]  R F Job,et al.  Chronic aircraft noise exposure, stress responses, mental health and cognitive performance in school children , 2001, Psychological Medicine.

[10]  G K Lemasters,et al.  Effects of occupational exposure to organic solvents and noise on hearing. , 1993, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[11]  Louise Getty,et al.  Overcoming Difficulties Experienced in the Work Place by Employees with Occupational Hearing Loss. , 1993 .

[12]  V. Noreika,et al.  Environmental Psychology , 2018 .

[13]  A. Kjellberg,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF NONPHYSICAL NOISE CHARACTERISTICS, ONGOING TASK AND NOISE SENSITIVITY ON ANNOYANCE AND DISTRACTION DUE TO NOISE AT WORK , 1996 .

[14]  Richard Wener,et al.  Advances in Evaluation of the Built Environment , 1989 .

[15]  S Klitzman,et al.  The impact of the physical environment on the psychological well-being of office workers. , 1989, Social science & medicine.

[16]  E. Donnerstein,et al.  Effects of noise and perceived control on ongoing and subsequent aggressive behavior. , 1976, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[17]  C. Levy-leboyer,et al.  Noise effects on two industrial tasks , 1989 .

[18]  Alice H. Suter,et al.  The Handbook of Hearing and the Effects of Noise: Physiology, Psychology and Public Health , 1996 .

[19]  K. D. Kryter,et al.  Aircraft noise and social factors in psychiatric hospital admission rates: a re-examination of some data , 1990, Psychological Medicine.

[20]  J. D. Miller.  Effects of noise on people. , 1974, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[21]  S. Melamed,et al.  Noise exposure, noise annoyance, use of hearing protection devices and distress among blue-collar workers. , 1994, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[22]  A Kjellberg,et al.  Subjective, behavioral and psychophysiological effects of noise. , 1990, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[23]  Staffan Hygge,et al.  Chronic Noise Exposure and Physiological Response: A Prospective Study of Children Living Under Environmental Stress , 1998 .

[24]  A Mital,et al.  Noise in multiple-workstation open-plan computer rooms: measurements and annoyance. , 1992, Journal of human ergology.

[25]  T S Kristensen,et al.  Cardiovascular diseases and the work environment. A critical review of the epidemiologic literature on nonchemical factors. , 1989, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[26]  Madbuli H. Noweir,et al.  Noise exposure as related to productivity, disciplinary actions, absenteeism, and accidents among textile workers , 1984 .

[27]  Staffan Hygge,et al.  Chronic Noise and Psychological Stress , 1995 .

[28]  E. Tomao,et al.  Epidemiological and clinical study of subjects occupationally exposed to noise , 1995 .

[29]  Parul Rishi,et al.  A Correlational Study of Workspace Characteristics and Work Satisfaction among Indian Bank Employees , 2000 .

[30]  P A B Radcliffe,et al.  Noise and performance , 1973 .

[31]  Ervin H. Zube,et al.  Advance in Environment, Behavior, and Design , 1989, Advances in Environment, Behavior, and Design.

[32]  G. Evans,et al.  Noise, physiology, and human performance: the potential role of effort. , 1997, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[33]  Etienne Grandjean,et al.  Results of an Ergonomic Investigation of Large-Space Offices , 1973 .

[34]  G. Evans,et al.  Stress and open-office noise. , 2000, The Journal of applied psychology.