Noise Risk Assessment At 881 Workstations From 320 Companies In The Private Sector Of Cote D'Ivoire

Introduction. Occupational noise is major nuisance in the world. The purpose of this study is to assess the noise risk in companies of Cote d'Ivoire, by an analysis of the adequacy between the noise level at workplaces and both of technical and medical preventives measures available.Method. The study was conducted from 2013 to 2015 in 320 companies either on 881 workplaces in 5 sectors of activity among the 12 sectors which are known to be prone to occupational accidents in Cote d'Ivoire. Noise measure was performed on workplaces at workers hearing area considering both various and duration of activities using DB 300 integrator sonometer class 1 from KIMO Instruments (France) equipped with a screen against wind. The measured values were compared to noise threshold 80, 85 and 90 dB (A). An observation of workers means protection available against high noise and a collection of information on the medical monitoring of workers by audiometric test allowed estimating the risk of hearing damage.Results..Our results show that 17% of the sampled workplaces have noise level lower than 80 (< 80 level) dB (A), 23% with level between [80; 85] dB (A), 26% with level ranged in [85; 90] dB (A) and 33.5% with noise level > 90 dB (A). Exposure to noise at more than 90 dB (A) on duration until or more than 2 hours is frequent in wood industry sector and secondarily in agribusiness. Concerning the means of protection, only 1.4 to 14% of employees have individual protection against noise (IPAN). As for medical monitoring by audiometric tests, the implementation rate is from 0 to 23%.Conclusion. The noise risk is real in companies of Cote d'Ivoire because of the inadequacy of technical and medical preventive measures that should lead to the strengthening of the regulation. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.