Validation of the CSA Z107.56 Standard Method for the Measurement of Noise Exposure From Headsets

The last section of the CSA Standard CAN/CSA-Z107.56-06 (R2011) - Procedures for the Measurement of Occupational Noise Exposure - deals with communication headsets. This section is typically applied in retail, call centers, airport control towers, and other settings where an operator is exposed to background noise while communicating with a headset. Because the user adjusts the volume to hear speech comfortably, the total equivalent sound level is a function of the level of the background noise minus the attenuation provided by the headset, plus a comfortable signal/noise ratio, estimated to be 13.5 dBA. Despite ample research demonstrating the role of spectral and temporal factors in speech masking, the standard is applied consistently regardless of the type of background.