Acoustical Engineering Controls and Estimated Return on Investment for DoD Selected High Noise Sources: A Roadmap for Future Noise Control in Acquisition

Noise is one of the most common occupational hazards faced by military service members in both operation and support of Department of Defense (DoD) systems. It is also the only known occupational hazard with exposures exceeding protection (mitigation) capability of available protective equipment. In ultra-high noise environments, double hearing protection (earplugs with earmuffs) alone cannot reduce the noise to a safe level thereby potentially impacting mission readiness. Due to these factors, interest in noise control during the acquisition process has reached flag/Senior Executive Service level attention. This report presents evolving improvements in control technologies and the permanence of engineering control through design versus administrative control measures. The objective is to further improve the acquisition and system design process for noisy systems by identifying potential control approaches including acoustic and non-acoustic impacts of specific treatment types. The recommendations, as presented herein, are not explicit for any particular system. A detailed acoustic design analysis would be required to optimally select treatments and determine the impact on all systems parameters, including mission and operating environment.