How do you handle noise nuisance?

Noise has a huge impact on public health and quality of life, according to CIEH, which is urging EHPs to take part in its annual noise survey.

CIEH said the survey is important because it is the only source of national information on noise nuisance and the work EHPs do to resolve it.

Statistics from the work are also used by Public Health England’s Public Health Outcomes Framework, which aims to improve and protect public health.

Any new national policy on noise set by Defra, will also be informed by the data. And the chief medical officer’s report in 2017 has already referenced previous year’s data and the impact of noise on public health.

The chief medical officer said: “Environmental noise comes second in burden of disease to air pollution and arguably is responsible for more disturbance of quality of life”.

CIEH policy manager Tamara Sandoul said: “Noise has a significant impact on health, productivity and quality of life for many people. That’s why we would like to raise the profile of this important issue and the amount of work done by EH professionals to resolve noise complaints.

“We are looking for as many local authorities as possible to help us by contributing some simple data. We will use the information to engage with key government departments.”

The survey will be open until 31 July and asks for data over the past year including: total number of noise complaints received; number of notices served; and staffing levels for noise related work.

Additional optional information asked for includes: number of prosecutions; size of local authority population; and breakdown of noise complaints by sector.