Noise & Vibration
Where: Crewing → Noise & Vibration.
The Maritime Labour Convention (Regulation 4.3) and ILO Convention 148 ask you to protect crew from noise and vibration and to keep the evidence that you checked. This page is that evidence: a reading per work area, taken with a sound level meter or a vibration meter on a walk-round, and a view of every space against the levels the law uses.
The levels
- Noise is judged on the 8-hour daily exposure. Below 80 dB(A) nothing is required. From 80, hearing protection must be available. From 85, it must be worn and a programme of measures is required. 87 is the exposure limit (measured with protection worn). A short stay in a loud space counts less: the page turns your reading and the hours a day spent there into the 8-hour figure.
- Space limits come from the IMO Code on noise levels: 110 dB(A) for an unattended machinery space, 85 for a workshop or deck work area, 75 for the engine control room and galley, 65 for the bridge and mess room, 60 for cabins. A space above its limit is flagged even if nobody is in it long enough to be over-exposed.
- Vibration is judged on the 8-hour value. Hand-arm: action 2.5 m/s², limit 5. Whole-body: action 0.5 m/s², limit 1.15.
Logging a reading
Click Log reading, pick the vessel and the work area, enter what the meter showed and how many hours a day people work there, and say who took it. Add a note when you did something about a high reading — quieter routing, protection issued, a survey ordered — so the log shows the response, not just the number.
Reading the page
The tiles count the spaces at or above the upper action level, over their IMO limit, and those not measured for 90 days. The area strip lists every space, worst first, with its daily exposure and vibration bands. Pick an area to see its readings over time against the three noise lines.
The page does not replace a noise survey by a competent person, which the IMO Code requires when the ship is delivered and after major work. It keeps the periodic checks between surveys in one place.