Exposure to industrial noise: Impacts on cognitive performance

Research on the relation between exposure to noise and cognitive performance inside industrial environments is not as broad as on office environments. For a better understanding of the specific industrial noise problems, 23 participants performed arithmetic tests inside a hemi anechoic room while they were exposed to a sequence of sound from five typical industrial noise sources. The subjects also classified how annoying they perceived the noise signals. The effects of noise on the arithmetic test's performance of the 23 participants was found on accuracy and on velocity, although the p-values of a Student t-test are comparable high. Dividing the subjects into a group of more noise annoyed resp. a group of less noise annoyed participants revealed significant influences of the presence of noise compared to an initial test without noise. The more annoyed subjects exhibit a drop of accuracy (-4%, p=0.017) while the less annoyed subjects increase significantly their velocity in the test (+15%, p=0.001). Subjects that evaluated noise as more annoying performed worse in a final arithmetic test (under silence) after being exposed to the noises, indicating a possible cumulative effect of noise on performance. The findings provide a better insight in the cognitive behavior of people who are exposed to industrial noise. Hence, the study will proceed with the specific noise analysis of single industrial workplaces.