CECE responds to EC noise directive

The Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE) has published a paper, outlining its position on an upcoming revision to the European Union’s directive on noise emissions.

While it welcomes the attempt to address noise pollution, where construction work is being undertaken in urban areas, as well as making construction work less detrimental to the health and wellbeing of operators and workers, it raises a number of concerns regarding the research undertaken.

The European Commission (EC) tasked the Outdoor Equipment Noise Limit Assessment (ODELIA) consortium to study the noise emissions of various types of equipment, including compaction machines, concrete mixers, drill rigs, hydraulic hammers, piling equipment and truck mixers.

In its own paper, CECE questions the methodology of the study, as well as raising the issue of elements of the research that have not been made available.

CECE also states that, in some case, the base populations used in the study may be too low to derive statistically reliable results.

The association says its paper, “represents the efforts of its members to provide the European Commission with a glimpse of the reality of the construction equipment sector.”

It adds that its own document includes the point of view of its members, who have highlighted issues and questioned “equipment where process noise is predominant in comparison to machine noise, new test codes for equipment…[and] the technical feasibility and investment to reduce noise levels.”