Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment

HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK (NORTHERN IRELAND) ORDER 1978

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (S.R. 2006 No. 1)

Notice is hereby given that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978, has made Regulations entitled “The Control of Noise at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006” (S.R. 2006 No. 1).

The Regulations, which come into operation on 6 April 2006, will revoke and replace the current Noise at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1990 (S.R. 1990 No. 147), which came into operation on 11 June 1990. They will implement, for Northern Ireland, Directive 2003/10/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (noise).

The main changes from the current Regulations are the reduction by 5 decibels of the exposure levels at which action has to be taken, the introduction of a new exposure limit value and a specific requirement on health surveillance.

The Regulations provide for transitional periods for the commencement of their operation as follows:–

•	for the music and entertainment sectors only they shall not come into operation until 6th April 2008. However, the Noise at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1990 will continue to apply until that date; and
•	where they apply to the master and crew of a seagoing ship, regulation 6(4) (application of the exposure limit values only) shall not come into operation until 6th February 2011.

Copies of these Regulations may be purchased from The Stationery Office Bookshop, 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD. ISBN 0-337-96309-6, £3.50 net.