Pollution can take on many forms in the modern day. One of the most common of which is noise pollution, a nuisance which many people find when located near to commercial and industrial establishments. If it is extreme, you may find these neighbours making a complaint to the council against you.

With that in mind, how do you deal with noise complaints made against your industrial activities in a civil manner that suits all parties?

Assess Work Practices

Where is the noise that is causing issue coming from? This is your first and most important problem to discover and solve. Bad workplace practices, poor design or even a lack of proper sound insulation could be the cause of annoyance. And chances are that if it is extreme enough to annoy your neighbours, it may also be at a damaging level to your workers. Making it vital that you solve the issue.

Commercial noise complaints are classified in a number of ways:

• Noise from an industrial or agricultural activity.
• Restaurants or pubs.
• Outdoor events.
• Construction sites.
• Alarms.

If any of these are the reason for your neighbour’s complaint, then it is your duty to solve the issue. There may be a number of solutions available to you.

Invest in Better Noise Reducing Equipment

At the end of the day, if the noise is disturbing your neighbours then you must invest in a solution to negate their complaints. As, if it were to continue, it could result – in extreme cases – legal action being taken against you.

There may be a number of solutions. Including:

• Can you invest in quieter equipment?
• Establish a low-noise policy for any equipment purchased in future.
• Avoid any metal on metal impacts.
• Remove or isolate vibrating machine parts.
• Fit silencers to exhausts and other equipment where possible.
• Invest in an acoustic booth or an acoustic enclosure.

If none of these work, then you may have to consider more extreme solutions in order to avoid further issues with your neighbours. It is your responsibility to reduce your commercial or industrial noise as much as possible, so be sure to keep that in mind at all times.