Practical considerations for assessing crew noise exposure in armored vehicles.

Measurement and analysis of the continuous and intermittent noise produced by armored vehicle (AV) platforms, including the output from communications systems as experienced by crew, are necessary for the purposes of exposure prediction, to support the selection of hearing protection and communication devices, and to facilitate assessments of compliance with occupational health and safety legislation. Practical estimation of the personal noise exposure of AV crews requires the assessment of the vehicle, communications and special-to-role activity noise sources, and an understanding of how these sources combine. Procedures are described that consider instrumentation requirements, AV configuration and build standard, operating conditions representative of actual use, the application of speed thresholding to measurements, and derivation of communications noise levels.