Noise characteristics of grass-trimming machine engines and their effect on operators

Over the last few years, interaction of humans with noisy power-driven agricultural tools and its possible adverse after effects have been realized. Grass-trimmer engine is the primary source of noise and the use of motorized cutter, spinning at high speed, is the secondary source of noise to which operators are exposed. In the present study, investigation was carried out to determine the effect of two types of grass-trimming machine engines (SUM 328SE and BG 328) noise on the operators in real working environment. It was found that BG-328 and SUM-328SE produced high levels of noise, of the order of 100 and 105 dB(A), respectively, to which operators are exposed while working. It was also observed that situation aggravates when a number of operators simultaneously operate resulting in still higher levels of noise. Operators should be separated 15 meters from each other in order to avoid the combined level of noise exposure while working with these machines. It was found that SPL, of the grass-trimmer machine engines (BG-328 and SUM-328SE), were higher than the limit of noise recommended by ISO, NIOSH, and OSHA for an 8-hour workday. Such a high level of noise exposure may cause physiological and psychological problems to the operators in long run.