Noise protection of agricultural workers with cellular structures

Introduction. The article concerns occupational health and safety in agriculture of the Russian Federation. Among dangerous and harmful production factors in agriculture determining the injury rates and morbidity is negative impact of high levels of noise on workers. Prolonged exposure to noise leads to an increase in slow wave activity and changes in visual and auditory cortical response. Therefore, the improvement of conditions and labour protection in agriculture by reducing noise is an urgent task of our time. Materials and Methods. The authors' assessment of the working conditions of employees of milk and meat processing industries showed that the noise level exceeds the standard values. There are some requirements for all the jobs. However, the development of noise-reducing structures demands frequency selective acoustic attenuation, based on the technological process. In the work, the author used methods based on features of the small reverberation chamber. Results. The authors proposed sound absorbent panels with high sanitary and hygienic properties: a biresonant honeycomb soundproof panel was developed for the dairy processing industry; an acoustic mesh panel was proposed for the meat processing lines. The sound absorption coefficient of the developed structures was evaluated by testing in a small reverberation chamber. Discussion and Conclusions. The article has an exploratory nature. The results of these studies graphically demonstrate the advantages of the proposed reduction of the noise level in agriculture.