Noise Risk Assessment on Noise Exposure Among Urban Rail Maintenance Workers Using Personal Monitoring Method

Urban Rail maintenance work typically involves a lot of daily maintenance work as proper maintenance must always be a priority for the rail industry to ensure that the passengers are always comfortable and safe. These maintenance activities expose the technicians to noise as they handle a lot of hand tools and machinery while performing their tasks. Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is a major compensable occupational disease in Malaysia due to excessive noise exposure above the permissible daily noise exposure limit. This study aimed to conduct Personal Monitoring as part of Noise Risk Assessment (NRA) to measure the level of noise exposure received by maintenance technicians in the excessive noise area. This study focused on the areas and tasks involved in the Track Network Maintenance Hall (TNMH) and Track Vehicle Storage Building (TVSB) at one of the urban rail companies. Noise Risk Assessment was the selected method to measure the level of noise exposure among maintenance technicians in the region with excessive noise. The Personal Monitoring method was conducted as suggested in the ICOP provided by DOSH Malaysia. Recorded data showed that a total of 2 out of 3 technicians were exposed to a daily noise exposure limit exceeding 85 dB(A) for their 8-h working shifts. The exposure level is currently controlled by the practise of using Personal Hearing Protector (PHP). Thus, this study confirmed that maintenance workers are exposed to high noise levels when performing their maintenance tasks.