doseBadge Builds up a Head of Steam in York

Here’s the latest case study from Cirrus Research, featuring the world-famous National Railway Museum. See how the doseBadge Noise Dosimeter helps Anna Kavanagh check that her teams are not exceeding their daily noise exposure limits.

national railway museum case study

The Client: The Science Museum Group
The Sites: National Railway Museum, York
The Issue: Noise Levels in the Museums’ Busy Workshops
The Solution: Cirrus Research doseBadge, Personal Dosimeter

In somewhere like the world-famous National Railway Museum in York, you might expect to need some level of noise measurement but your first bet would be somewhere near the locomotives taking centre stage?

Anna Kavanagh is the Group Health & Safety Advisor for the Science Museum Group and responsible for both the London Science Museum and National Railway Museum sites – two great attractions that draw in tens of thousands of visitors each year but with very different exhibits.

Whilst the visitors enjoy the front of house entertainment, it’s what’s going on behind the scenes that is more likely to pose a potential headache for Anna when it comes to protecting employees’ hearing.

Both museums sites have their own workshops that are used for maintenance work, as well as creating displays for the many varied exhibitions that take place on site. The workshop employs around 15 staff each who work 9 hour shifts.

Using the doseBadge

Anna bought two Cirrus doseBadge kits as the employees based in the workshop had access to up to 40 different types of equipment and, whilst they were not using them for very long, it was hard to monitor on a consistent basis the noise levels they were being subjected to.

The teams are constantly working on new exhibits that are regularly changed and modified to keep the attractions fresh and interesting for the museum visitors. The York team had the extra duties associated with keeping some of the world’s most famous locomotives in tip top condition.

“They may only be cutting out shapes for a display for a few seconds but it is high intensity noise and I needed to be confident this didn’t take them over their daily allowance,” explained Anna. “The doseBadges are ideal because they don’t get in the way of the day to day working but give me the full picture of what the employee has been exposed to during a typical shift.

“Fortunately we found out this time that the men we monitored were all well within the 135dB peak levels and they didn’t exceed their daily limits either, so it was very helpful.”

The doseBadge enables Anna to get the data she needed over a full shift to ensure that the workers weren’t been subjected to high levels of noise would take them over the UK Noise at Work levels.

It also meant that she didn’t have to devote a day of her time to each employee to monitor them using other static methods, which freed up her diary to get on with other tasks.
She also likes the easy-to-use NoiseTools® software that comes as standard with the dosebadges. “It gives you the full picture,” she said. “You know you have the evidence there to rely on over a set period of time.”

Cirrus Research’s Marketing Manager, Thomas Shelton, added: “It’s great that Anna has found both the doseBadge and the NoiseTools software so easy to use. That was one of our key design goals, to make noise measurement simpler for businesses and consultants around the world.”

Before Anna went to work for the Museum she had previous experience of the Cirrus product range having used the doseBadges when she worked for West Yorkshire Police Health & Safety team. Here she was more likely to be monitoring the dogs kennels or mounted section for excessive noise rather than locomotives – “You wouldn’t believe the amount of noise the dogs could make,” she laughed. “It certainly made for an interesting day!”

About the doseBadge

dosebadge noise dosimeterEach doseBadge kit contains the doseBadge along with a Reader Unit, Chargers, Power Supply, Mounting Kits, Software, User Manuals, USB Cable, Certificates of Calibration and Batteries for the Reader Unit.

The measurement kits can be expanded with additional doseBadges and charger units as required. These can be either standard CR:110A doseBadges or the Intrinsically Safe CR:110AIS.

Optional items can be added to enhance the operation and use of the doseBadge Measurement Kit.

Why Choose the doseBadge?

doseBadge® is a Registered Trademark of Cirrus Research plc

About the Science Museum Group

The Science Museum Group (SMG) is devoted to the history and contemporary practice of science, medicine, technology, industry and media.

Its collections, in the fields of science, technology, engineering, medicine, design and enterprise, transport and media, are the largest, most comprehensive and most significant in their field anywhere in the world.

SMG incorporates the Science Museum, the Science Museum Library and the Wellcome collections of the history of medicine at South Kensington; the National Railway Museum at York; the National Media Museum at Bradford; Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon; the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester; and Concorde 002 with its associated exhibition at Yeovilton.

Feature in our Next Case Study

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Jaymee-lee Tolliday

Marketing Executive at Cirrus Research plc

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