In addition to the legal provisions and body of technical regulations governing noise at work in Germany, a number of standards and guidelines for determining the hazard presented to workers by noise are particularly important.
The room acoustics of workspaces in some cases need further consideration than just the technical rules under the Noise and Vibrations Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance (LärmVibrationsArbSchV) and the technical rules for workplaces ASR A3.7. DIN 18041 describes the state of the art in this area. The design of room acoustics against this standard can also be demonstrated with the aid of the IFA room acoustics calculator (German version only).
The following principle applies: whereas the noise exposure level relates to the auditory noise impact presenting a risk to hearing, the extra-aural noise impact (not harmful to the inner ear) is described by means of the rating level.
DIN EN ISO 9612:2009-09, Acoustics – Determination of occupational noise exposure – Engineering method (ISO 9612:2009); German version EN ISO 9612:2009.
DIN 45645-2:2012-09, Determination of rating levels from measurement data – Part 2: Determination of the noise rating level for occupational activities at the work place for the level range underneath the given risk of hearing damage.
DIN 18041:2016-03, Acoustic quality in rooms – Specifications and instructions for the room acoustic design.
VDI 3766:2012-09, Ultrasound – Workplace – Measurement, assessment, judgement and reduction.
VDI 2058 Part 2:2020-08, Assessment of noise with regard to the risk of hearing damages.