⏱️ Estimated reading time: 13 min
Key Takeaways
They are the Great Britain law that protects workers from hearing damage caused by noise at work. They set three exposure values, 80, 85 and 87 dB(A), and have applied since 6 April 2006.
At 80 dB(A) your employer must assess the risk, train you and make hearing protectors available on request. At 85 dB(A) protectors must be provided and worn, and hearing protection zones must be marked. 87 dB(A) is the limit that must never be exceeded.
You must wear hearing protection once your daily or weekly exposure reaches 85 dB(A), or a peak of 137 dB(C), and inside any marked zone. Between 80 and 85 dB(A), your employer must give you protectors if you ask, but wearing them is your choice.
Yes. The 87 dB(A) and 140 dB(C) limits are assessed at the ear with protection taken into account. The 80 and 85 dB(A) action values are not, so wearing protectors never changes when your employer must act.
Yes, if the risk assessment shows a risk to your hearing. HSE expects health surveillance, including hearing tests, for anyone regularly exposed above 85 dB(A) and for others at particular risk from 80 dB(A).
Northern Ireland has its own equivalent, the Control of Noise at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006, with the same structure. Ireland applies the same EU directive through its 2007 regulations, and the US, Canada and Australia set their own rules.
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 are the law in Great Britain that sets how much noise you can be exposed to at work and what your employer must do about it. They work on three numbers, 80, 85 and 87 dB(A), averaged over a working day. Each one triggers a different set of duties, and most people only ever hear about one of them.
The question workers ask most is some version of “isn’t 85 the legal limit?” It isn’t. Protection must be offered from 80 dB(A), it becomes compulsory at 85 dB(A), and the actual limit is 87 dB(A), measured with your protection in. HSE estimates that around 15,000 workers in Great Britain have work-related hearing problems (Labour Force Survey, 2022/23 to 2024/25), and adds that “once your hearing has gone it won’t come back.”
At Bollsen, we are a hearing protection company founded in 2016 and trusted by 1,000,000+ people, and we make reusable earplugs for work, sleep, music and travel. Workers in construction, manufacturing and warehousing will find job-specific guidance and our full range of earplugs for work on our workplace hub, alongside UK noise regulations explained from the worker’s side.
What do the noise at work regulations actually require?
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1643) require employers to assess noise risks, reduce exposure at source, provide and maintain hearing protection, check workers’ hearing where there is a risk and train their staff. They replaced the Noise at Work Regulations 1989 and bring the EU Directive 2003/10/EC into British law.
Regulation 5 covers the risk assessment, Regulation 6 eliminating or controlling exposure, Regulation 7 hearing protection and zones, Regulation 8 maintenance and use, Regulation 9 health surveillance and Regulation 10 information and training. HSE’s official guidance on applying them is L108, Controlling noise at work.
According to HSE’s summary of the noise regulations, the law came into force on 6 April 2006 and covers all industry sectors in Great Britain, from building sites and factories to schools and offices. It does not deal with noise heard by the public or neighbourhood nuisance.
What do 80, 85 and 87 dB(A) mean for you?
80 dB(A) is the lower exposure action value, 85 dB(A) the upper exposure action value and 87 dB(A) the exposure limit value, each measured as your average noise dose over a working day, with matching peaks of 135, 137 and 140 dB(C) for sudden bangs. Crossing either the average or the peak brings in the duties at that level, as set out in Regulation 4 of the 2005 Regulations. Every duty at 80 dB(A) still applies at 85 and 87.
| Value (average / peak) | What your employer must do | What you are entitled to | What you must do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 dB(A) / 135 dB(C) Lower exposure action value | Assess the risk, give information and training, make hearing protectors available on request | Protectors if you ask, training on the risks, health surveillance if the assessment shows a risk | Ask for protection if you want it and follow the training |
| 85 dB(A) / 137 dB(C) Upper exposure action value | Run a programme of technical and organisational measures, provide protectors, mark hearing protection zones | Protectors at no cost to you, a say in which types are chosen, hearing checks if regularly exposed | Wear the protectors provided, never enter a zone without them, report defects |
| 87 dB(A) / 140 dB(C) Exposure limit value (counted with protection worn) | Keep exposure at the ear below the limit; if exceeded, act immediately and stop it recurring | Exposure at your ear that never exceeds the limit | Report noise or protection that is not doing its job |
The 80 dB(A) step is the one most often misread. Regulation 7 on hearing protection says protectors must be made “available upon request” above the lower action value, yet several summaries online say they must be “provided” at 80. If you work between 80 and 85 dB(A) and want protection, ask, and your employer has to supply it.
The employer column is the short version of the wider employer hearing protection duties. The worker column answers a common question, can my employer make me wear earplugs: at or above 85 dB(A), and inside any marked zone, yes, while between 80 and 85 dB(A) it is your decision.
At 85 dB(A) the law also brings in hearing protection zones and signage, so loud areas carry the blue ear-protection sign and nobody enters without protectors. Workplace hearing tests sit under Regulation 9 for anyone the assessment shows to be at risk, which HSE reads as workers regularly above 85 dB(A) and some exposed from 80 dB(A), such as people with existing hearing loss.
What is the difference between LEP,d and LEP,w?
LEP,d is your daily personal noise exposure, the average sound level over a working day normalised to 8 hours, while LEP,w is the weekly version, averaged across five nominal 8-hour days. The law allows the weekly figure only where exposure “varies markedly from day to day”.
Because the decibel scale is logarithmic, every 3 dB rise doubles the sound energy. That makes 80 dB(A) for 8 hours the same daily dose as 83 dB(A) for 4 hours, and just 30 minutes with a tool at around 92 dB(A) matches a full shift at the 80 dB(A) lower action value.
Short bursts with grinders, saws and breakers therefore count for a lot, which is why figures in a guide such as how loud are power tools (decibel chart) are best read as dose, not just volume. Weekly averaging suits someone who runs a breaker on Monday and sits in an office the rest of the week, never a job that is loud every day.
What are the peak sound pressure values for impact noise?
The peak sound pressure values are 135 dB(C), 137 dB(C) and 140 dB(C), and they catch single sudden bangs that a daily average would smooth away. They use the C-weighting, which captures the low-frequency punch of an impact better than the A-weighting used for averages.
Hammering metal, nail guns, cartridge-operated tools and drop forging are typical sources. A job can sit below its daily action value and still trigger the duties through a handful of loud peaks, so protection for impact work belongs in your employer’s assessment, not a guess from a packet.
What are the noise limits at work in the UK?
The legal noise limits at work in the UK are a daily or weekly average of 87 dB(A) and a peak of 140 dB(C), both assessed at the ear with hearing protection taken into account, while the 80 and 85 dB(A) action values mark where your employer must act long before that. The workplace decibel limit is therefore 87 dB(A), not 85.
Action values ignore hearing protection, so putting earplugs in never changes when your employer has to assess, train or provide. The limit values count it, which is why the right protection depends on the noise you start from, the question behind our guide to how much hearing protection do I need.
So at what noise level does the law say you must wear ear protection at work? At 85 dB(A) daily or weekly exposure, a peak of 137 dB(C), or in any marked zone, with protectors available on request from 80 dB(A). HSE also cautions against over-protection, because levels at the ear below about 70 dB can leave people feeling cut off.
How can you tell if your work is loud enough to trigger the regulations?
HSE’s rule of thumb is that a workplace probably needs a noise assessment if people must raise their voice to talk to someone about 2 metres away for part of the day, or use noisy powered tools for more than 30 minutes a day. Construction, demolition, woodworking, engineering and recycling cross that line almost by default, and impact noise from hammering or cartridge tools is the other trigger.
The 2-metre conversation test is the one workers actually use, because it needs no equipment. If you are shouting across a workbench to be heard, ask to see the assessment, whose significant findings your employer must share under Regulation 10. Anyone who notices muffled hearing or ringing after shifts should speak to a GP or occupational health.
Where does hearing protection fit in the hierarchy of controls?
Under Regulation 6, hearing protection is the last control, used after an employer has tried to eliminate the noise, reduce it at source with quieter equipment, enclosures and maintenance, and limit exposure through job rotation. The risk must always be reduced as far as reasonably practicable, and from 85 dB(A) a formal noise-control programme is mandatory.
Our WorkPRO earplugs are a passive, reusable silicone option for that last layer. They are German-tested, independently certified 24 dB hearing protection, rated SNR 24 dB (H 24, M 21, L 19) under EN 352-2, with a low profile so ear defenders fit over the top. Like every passive plug they reduce sound across the board, and their attenuation rises with frequency, so higher tones are reduced most.
Where the noise assessment puts daily exposure at around 90 to 95 dB(A), our WorkPRO earplugs (SNR 24 dB) sit within HSE’s suggested protection band and go under ear defenders when the assessment calls for both. They are one control in the hierarchy, never the whole duty, and no earplug replaces the assessment, the noise reduction or the training your employer owes you.
Foam, reusable silicone, banded and custom-moulded plugs suit different shifts, and our guide to the best earplugs for work compares them. Whatever the type, the right protector is the one you keep in for the whole time the noise is on.
Who do the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 cover?
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 apply to employers and workers in every industry sector in Great Britain, while Northern Ireland has the Control of Noise at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006, in operation since 6 April 2006 with the same structure. Ireland’s 2007 regulations implement the same EU directive with the same three-tier structure.
Elsewhere, each country sets its own hearing protection standards and exposure rules. US readers should start with our explainer on OSHA hearing protection standards, which covers how American workplace safety rules are set and enforced, while readers in Canada or Australia should check their own national or state regulator.
Music and entertainment joined later, on 6 April 2008, and venues apply the same noise rules to staff, performers and crews in their own way. Those practical questions are covered in our guide to the noise rules for music venues, written for people working under the same 80, 85 and 87 dB(A) values in live entertainment.
What should you do if your workplace feels too loud?
Start by asking for the noise assessment and finding out which value your work sits at. From 80 dB(A) you can ask for protectors, from 85 dB(A) they must be provided and worn alongside marked zones and hearing checks, and nobody may be exposed above 87 dB(A) with protection on.
Wear what you are given properly and report a damaged protector straight away. If you want a reusable layer for the PPE part of your employer’s plan, WorkPRO gives you SNR 24 dB protection that sits under ear defenders. Hearing lost to work noise does not come back, so the three numbers are worth knowing by heart.
His connection to hearing protection stems from personal experience with sound sensitivity during live events and work in noisy environments, an issue that made him more aware of the long-term risks of unmanaged noise exposure. Today, as both a communicator and a user of BOLLSEN products, he is passionate about raising awareness around the importance of proactive hearing care.
At BOLLSEN, he develops data-driven marketing campaigns, writes SEO-focused articles, and manages communication channels that connect customers with practical knowledge about hearing protection. His work ensures that BOLLSEN’s message—prioritizing health, performance, and sustainability reaches a global audience in an engaging and trustworthy way.
Passionate about writing since childhood, Timotej combines creativity with a strong analytical approach, continuously testing new ideas in digital marketing, performance advertising, and social media. He believes in learning through innovation and collaboration, balancing leadership with openness to new perspectives.
Beyond his professional role, Timotej is committed to a healthy lifestyle and finds inspiration in fitness, sports, and quality time with friends. His personal passion for well-being aligns with BOLLSEN’s core values, making his work not only a career but also a cause he deeply believes in.