Noise mapping at the Delimara power station : employees and mitigation measures

Abstract

This work describes a study that was carried out to produce an occupational noise study of the Delimara Power Station, with the intent of determining the level of exposure of the employees; as well as to suggest ways for reducing and mitigating the prevailing risk or risks. Questionnaires have been randomly distributed amongst employees occupying the different sections in order to gather as much as possible demographic and other information on the study pollution. Noise monitoring was conducted at 28 different stations at the Delimara Power Station, over a 24 hour time period. 13 of the stations monitored comprised strategically chosen outdoor areas, whereas 15 other areas were indoor areas. Noise temporal graphs obtained in different areas were analysed and all possible sources of noise were identified in each case. The maximum, minimum and average values of each station are reported. Additionally, a GIS noise map was drawn to enable the visualization noise distribution across the entire study area. Using these two approaches, a model can be used to identify the prevalence of risk areas to help introduce management introduce the mitigation measures and to simplify the identification of risk groups, i.e. those employee which may invariably be exposed to higher short-term exposure levels and those who have been subjected to a higher accumulated dose over a prescribed period (i.e. years).