Abstract

Despite progress in legislation, e.g. laws requiring employers to assess and address the noise risk for their workers, and in the use of new technologies, e.g. battery powered tools or gardening equipment, noise-induced hearing loss remains a problem even today. The NOise MAchinery Directive (NOMAD) Task Force of the European Member States cooperating in market surveillance has raised the awareness of many relevant stakeholders regarding the need for cooperation between manufacturers of products emitting noise and their users. A promising means to deal with the noise problem is to make possible and effective a real competition towards quieter machines and equipment, so that market forces drive the technological development. To that end, we introduce the concept of Selling and Buying Quiet and address the issues hindering its application. These became evident during NOMAD Phase 2, in particular at NOMAD Workshop 2 in 2019. The issues comprise general aspects, e.g. education on proper determination of noise emissions by manufacturers and use of noise information by machine users, as well as specific problems with existing EU legislation. Finally, we provide ideas and set goals to improve the situation, so that Buying and Selling Quiet will become a reality.