Safety climate, attitudes to noise management and exposure to noise in small and medium sized workplaces in New Zealand

AbstractTechnological and legislative safety solutions will only succeed if the social systems, attitudes and behaviours at work support them. Safety climate is one of the factors related to effective hazard management, including management of noise. Data on levels of noise, risk factors and compliance with the relevant Code of Practice were collected from 20 New Zealand small and medium workplaces with employee counts ranging from 2–48. One hundred and sixty-three (163) respondents from these workplaces also provided data on self-reported hearing protection use, safety climate and attitudes to controlling noise at work. Levels of compliance with New Zealand Approved Code of Practice requirements were low, even in workplaces with high levels of noise. Use of hearing protection devices (HPD) was highest in construction and manufacturing but no respondents in hospitality (cafes) or education (early childhood education) reported using hearing protection despite some high levels of noise.