Statistical process control and geostatistics on the characterization of the noise produced by a backhoe loader

Workers in their labor activities may be subject to operational risks, such as noise. The objective of this work was to use geostatistics and Statistical Process Control (SPC) through individual charts to map and characterize the magnitude of the spatial variability of noise produced by a backhoe, to identify areas of health for workers. The experiment was developed at the technical college of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro. A 63-kW backhoe loader and a digital decibel meter were used to collect noise levels at points distributed in a regular 2.0 x 2.0 m sampling grid around the machine. The spatial dependence of the noise was analyzed by adjusting the Wave-type semi-variogram, interpolation by ordinary kriging, and SPC. It was possible to characterize the spatial dependence of noise levels produced by the backhoe as well as to carry out, through individual letters in dialogue with geostatistics, the mapping of their spatial distribution to identify healthy areas for workers. It could have been found in the evaluation of the backhoe loader control chart, that there was no reduction in the variability of noise data, which was approximately 73.29 dB(A) for the sampled points. This shows an average very close to the analysis found in the execution of the descriptive statistics of the noise generated by the backhoe loader.