HATS off for raising noise awareness

As part of Noise Action Week, East Hampshire District Council's (EHDC) Environmental Health team offered residents the chance to find out if their love of loud music is permanently damaging their ears.

[UKPRwire, Fri Jun 19 2009] For this experiment, which took place at several venues around Petersfield, a Head and Torso Simulator (HATS) - provided by Bruel & Kjaer - was fitted with audio equipment to measure the decibel level of MP3 players and warn if music is being played dangerously loud.

Lisa Duffy, EHDC Environmental Protection Officer, said: "It is expected that people will suffer with hearing problems in later life because of the number of people listening to music too loud. People don't realise they are storing up trouble for themselves and how bad hearing impairments, such as tinnitus, can be.”

Bruel & Kjaer’s HATS system consists of a dummy with built-in ear and mouth simulators. These provide a realistic replica of an average, adult human head and torso for testing out external acoustic effects from headsets, microphones, headphones, hearing aids, audio conference devices and hearing protectors. The mannequin also has an adjustable neck making it ideal for testing mobile and cordless telephone handsets.

Another Noise Action week activity saw a Rushden-based Scout Group celebrate winning a competition, run by Northamptonshire councils, where young people across the county were invited to produce a 30 second jingle, with a noise awareness message.

The finalists joined NewMusicNite organiser, Angela Mallory Stark at the Pemberton Centre, to hear their entries played to the audience. Angela then announced the winners, Charlie Barry and Adam Chapman of 8th Rushden Scouts. The prizes included the chance to record their sound bite at a professional studio and a brand new iPod each - supplied by Brüel and Kjaer UK.

Charlie’s father, Trevor Barry said: “The boys were surprised and pleased when they heard the news about being in the final. They were over the moon to win the competition and haven’t stopped playing with their iPods since.”

Listen to the winning jingle at: www.noiseaction.co.uk


The event was organised by East Northamptonshire Council, Northampton Borough Council, Borough of Wellingborough, Kettering Borough Council, Daventry District Council, Corby Council and South Northamptonshire District Council.

For more information about Bruel & Kjaer UK’s products and services, please visit: www.bksv.co.uk or contact Bruel & Kjaer UK on 01438 739 000.
About Brüel & Kjær
Brüel & Kjær is a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of sound and vibration solutions for use in a wide range of applications including: environmental noise measurements, building acoustics, vibration measurements and quality control for use in the automotive, aerospace and consumer industries, as well as by local authorities.

We design and manufacturer sound level meters, microphones and accelerometers, conditioning amplifiers, calibrators, noise and vibration analysers and software. To see our full range and for more information, please visit www.bksv.co.uk or contact our sales team: telephone +44 (0) 1438 739 000 or email: ukinfo@bksv.com

Brüel & Kjær also runs a variety of training courses throughout the year, from basic introductions on noise and it’s effects to more specialised classes teaching customers how to get the most out of their equipment. To see our full training course calendar, visit: http://www.bksv.co.uk/Courses/Training%20Courses.aspx

Free, online training courses - conducted by our expert engineers - run throughout the year too. For registration details and the latest planned web training sessions, visit: http://www.bksv.co.uk/Courses/Web%20Courses.aspx

Bruel & Kjaer UK has its own Service Centre which is UKAS accredited to the international standard ISO/IEC 17025, ensuring traceable or accredited calibration for equipment. To book a service or for more information, please contact our service department on +44 (0) 1438 739 100 or visit: http://www.bksv.co.uk/ServiceCalibration/CalibrationService.aspx

Brüel & Kjær has 900 employees and sales offices in 55 countries and is a subsidiary of UK-based Spectris plc (www.spectris.com). Spectris has annual sales of £787m and employs around 6,000 people worldwide in its 13 business units.

For additional information please contact:
Heather Wilkins
Marketing Coordinator
Bruel & Kjaer UK Ltd
Telephone: 01438 739 000
Web: www.bksv.co.uk
Email: heather.wilkins@bksv.com