MINISTRY OF ENERGY
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: 107
107. Mr N J J van R Koornhof (Cope) to ask the Minister of Energy:
Whether there is any noise restrictions with regard to the noise
levels the PetroSA plant at Mossel Bay must adhere to; if not, why
not; if so, (a) what are the maximum decibel levels, (b) have these
levels been violated in the past six months and (c) what measures are
in place to prevent violations? NW112E
Reply:
PetroSA is registered as a mine and therefore has to comply with the
requirements of the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) in terms of
noise.
a) Since noise exposure is identified as a significant risk at the mine,
a mandatory Code of Practice (COP) for an occupational health
programme for noise was submitted to and accepted by the Department of
Mineral Resources (DMR).
The noise levels at the GTL Refinery exceeds 82 dB Aeq,8hr (action
level) and PetroSA therefore has an occupational hygiene monitoring
programme for noise. This programme is managed by a Certified
Occupational Hygienist and includes noise zoning, personal exposure
monitoring and submission of mandatory reports to the DMR (required
by regulation 9.2 of the MHSA).
b) Recent noise zoning and personal exposure sampling reports indicate
noise levels between 82 and 98 dB (A). Very high noise levels that
exceeds 110 dB (A) may result during upset conditions at steam release
vents on the plant. During these conditions access control is enforced
where possible and the use of Variphone (Hearing Protection Device
(HPD)) is mandatory.
In order to control exposure of the workforce, PetroSA implements a
hearing conservation standard that requires management to take
reasonable practicable measures to control the noise by eliminating
sources, segregating noise sources with less noisy ones and
implementing engineering and administrative controls. Since it is
not always possible to control noise to below the Occupational
Exposure Limit (OEL) of 85 dB (A), no person is allowed to work in
the demarcated noise zones without HPDâs.
c) All employees exposed over the OEL are required to undergo audiometric
testing on an annual basis to timeously identify workers with a
reduction in hearing acuity. These incidents are reported by the on-
site Occupational Health Practitioner and investigated to identify the
root cause and to take appropriate remedial action when and where
required.
It can be concluded that PetroSA is adhering to legal requirements and
that all reasonable measures have been taken to protect the workforce
from Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) due to noise exposure.
â¦Endâ¦