Background & Aims: Noise is one of the most important harmful elements in industrial environments causing auditory and non-auditory disorders. One of the non-auditory effects of noise is reducing efficiency and production quality. The aim of the present study was to survey the effects of exposure on selected sound pressure levels in performing skill tasks.

Materials & Methods: In the laboratory environment, Gold Wave was used to create sound pressure levels of 40, 60, 80 and 100 dB, respectively. The participating subjects in the study were requested to carry out the test of Two-Hand Coordination with starting the noise and after 1 to 2 minutes pause. The testing time and number of errors were registered and recorded.

Result: The results revealed that there was no significant correlation between the interaction of sound pressure level and gender in the testing time (P=0.96%). The findings also showed that the mean of testing time had no statistical significance for males and females (p=0.51%). However, a significant difference was observed by the average of the testing time in sound pressure of different levels (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Noise is an effective factor on accuracy and speed of skill tasks performance. Increasing sound pressure leads to higher error rates in performing skill tasks.

SOURCE: URMIA MED J 2016: 27(2): 113 ISSN: 1027-3727