Epidemiology of noise and legal aspects

Abstract

This article provides a brief interdisciplinary approach to the health-disease phenomenon in the workplace related to occupational noise exposure and regulatory developments involving the subject. What justifies the discussion of this theme is the constant regulatory changes in the regulation of the maximum tolerance limit for exposure to occupational noise in decibels, which despite being the result of tests carried out in accredited laboratories by the Ministry of Labor and Employment can not be effective for avoid the illness of workers. It is intended to answer the following questions: What is epidemiology and how occupational noise exposure can be a risk factor for workers; why there are so many changes in the rules governing the fixing of maximum decibels to which workers can be "safely" exposed; whether the rules governing the safety of workers exposed to occupational noise are effective in protecting the health of these people.