Noise abatmement techniques in southern pine sawmills and planer mills.

Noise abatement in sawmills and planer mills generally has been considered infeasible by the industry because of a combination of economic constraints and inadequate development of controls. Work by two mills in southern Georgia, utilizing their own materials and their in-house staff for installation, has successfully reduced their employee noise exposure. Noise was reduced in these mills from the high 90- and low 100-dBa levels to between the upper 80 s and lower 90 s. This was accomplished without excessive costs or major process and equipment changes. Abatement methods included properly positioned barriers, machinery isolation, double-wall enclosures, acoustically treated infee and outfeed tunnels, employee rotation, and machinery enclosures.