ONLINE ISSN 1821-7249

2014: Volume 5, Issue 1, 741-745

Research Article
Assessment of Noise Pollution in Cereal Milling Machines and
Wood Workshops in Tanga, Tanzania

Amani Salumu1; Stelyus L. Mkoma1*; Charles Kihampa2

1
Department of Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Sokoine University of
Agriculture, P.O. Box 3038, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro, Tanzania
2
Department of Environmental Science and Management, Ardhi University,
P.O. Box 35176, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Received: 22 January 2014, Accepted: 04 February 2014, Published: 10 March 2014

ABSTRACT
Noise from milling machines and wood workshops found to be one of the major
occupational hazards for the workers of industrial sector. The aim of this study was
to assess the noise pollution and workers response towards noise effects in cereal
milling machines and wood workshops in Tanga, Tanzania. A digital sound level
meter was used to measure indoor and outdoor sound level in twelve (12) random
selected sites while questionnaires were used to assess worker’s altitude on the
effect of noise in work place. Of the six (6) cereal milling machines, the maximum
indoor and outdoor noise levels of 90 dBA and 83.8 dBA were measured at Ashifaa
Milling Company and Jamally Super Sembe, respectively. The minimum noise level
of 74.3 dBA for both indoor and outdoor noise was measured at Machaku cereal
milling machine whereas the maximum outdoor noise level (86.6 dBA) was
measured at Makorora Centre ‘Msikitini’. In wood workshops, maximum indoor
noise level (96.9dBA) was measured at Mabanda ya Papa Vocational Training
Centre and the minimum indoor (77.9 dBA) and outdoor (72.1 dBA) noise levels
were recorded at Sele Furniture. About 90% of workers were aware of noise being
a potential source of health hazards. 33% reported that noise level in their work
place is very high. The exposure to noise working environment cause hearing
problem (40%), headache (38%), bad temper (14% and loss of concentration (8%).
About 76% of the workers were aware of the importance to use protective. This
study showed that there is noise pollution in cereal milling machines and wood
workshops and workers were exposed to higher noise levels than the recommended
limit by Tanzania Bureau of Standards and World Health Organisation.

Keywords: Noise pollution, Worker’s exposure, Annoyance and effects, Tanga

INTRODUCTION
Noise pollution being unwanted sound has become major problem in working environments
(Olokooba et al., 2010). Worldwide, 16% of hearing loss in adults is attributed to the occupational
noise (Neghab et al., 2009; Dube et al., 2011). In the urban areas throughout the world, the major
sources of noise generation are increasing due to among others increasing traffic, urbanization of
heavy industries and construction (Abbasi et al., 2011; Noweir et al., 2012).

In small scale industries including the cereal milling machines and wood workshops in Tanzania,
noise pollution has become an environmental aspect to pay attention due to workers exposure to
excessive hazardous noise levels.
* Corresponding author © 2014, St. John’s University of Tanzania
Email: stelyusm@gmail.com http://www.sjut.org/journals/ojs/index.php/tajonas
 SALUMU ET AL. 742

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation the introduction of new
crops, such as rice, maize and cassava in recent centuries, has resulted to new milling techniques
(Clarke and Rottger, 2006). The electric motors and higher speed machines used today are the main
concern. Tools used in the wood industry can generate continuous noise levels which would expose
unprotected workers to noise pollution which may cause annoyance and hearing loss (Kweka and
Young, 2009; Singh et al., 2009; Abas, 2011; Mndeme and Mkoma, 2012).

Cereal milling machines and wood workshops are commonly used in Tanga city. The objectives of
this study was to measure noise level and assess the attitude of workers towards noise health effects in
cereal milling machine and wood workshops in Tanga, Tanzania.

METHODOLOGY
The present study was conducted in Tanga region. The region is located between latitude 4˚ and 6˚S
and longitude 37˚ and 39˚E. According to the Tanzania National Census, Tanga city has a
population of 2,045,205 people (URT, 2013). The main activities of the population in Tanga are
agriculture, forestry, trade and commerce. The most important industrial establishments in existence
include furniture making industries and production of crafts (NBS, 2008).

Six cereal milling machine and six wood workshops were randomly selected from 15 Avenue Road
“Barabara ya 15”, Mabanda ya Papa, Makorora, Mzingani and Sahare for noise level measurement
and assessment of workers response to effects of noise pollution. The survey was carried out for four
weeks in March, 2013. A digital sound level meter set to A-weighting scale was used to measure
indoor and outdoor mean, minimum and maximum sound levels. The sound level meter was placed to
a height of about 1.0 m to 1.5 m above the ground level. Questionnaires were administered to workers
and filled under supervision to avoid the influence in answering among the respondents.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Measured Noise levels
Noise levels in cereal milling machines and wood workshops were measured both maximum and
minimum indoor and outdoor. Table 1 and 2 show maximum, minimum and average noise levels
measured in cereal machines and wood workings respectively. Generally, the mean noise level for all
measurements in this study found to be above 70 dBA for indoor and outdoor noise. This value is
higher than the maximum permissible level of 55 dBA recommended by Tanzania Bureau of
Standards for mixed residential environment (TBS, 2005). According to the World Health
Organization (WHO, 1999), an exposure duration of more than 70 dBA in 24 hours would result to
hearing impairment.

In cereal milling machines, the mean indoor noise level of 90 dBA at Ashifaa milling company was
measured. A minimum noise level of 74.3 dBA for both indoor and outdoor noise was measured at
Machaku cereal milling machine. A maximum outdoor noise level of 83.8dBA was also recorded at
Jamally super sembe. The results are comparable to findings reported by Kumar et al. (2008) on
occupational noise in rice mills, were higher sound pressure levels of more than 85 dBA in locations
where workers were engaged most of the working time. Another study on industrial noise pollution and
their effects on hearing capabilities of workers in saw mills, printing presses and corn mills reported to
be more than 90 dBA (Boateng and Amedofu, 2004).

TABLE 1: Maximum, minimum, mean and standard deviation of noise levels recorded in cereal
milling machines in Tanga city.
Machines Indoor Noise Level Outdoor Noise Level
Max. Min. Mean±SD Max. Min. Mean±SD
Ashifaa Milling Company 90.0 84.5 86.6±2.6 83.7 79.9 78.7±2.9
Jamaly Super Sembe 86.7 81.2 84.5±0.5 83.8 79.0 81.5±1.8
Kajembe 89.5 85.6 87.0±1.4 83.3 75.5 77.7±2.3
Kwaminchi 88.7 84.0 85.7±1.2 85.0 77.1 82.2±1.0

 2014, St. John’s University of Tanzania

 SALUMU ET AL. 743

Machaku 79.5 74.3 75.8±0.7 74.3 69.0 71.1±1.0

Vuga Super Sembe 83.0 79.2 80.1±3.9 76.8 72.0 74.0±2.6

In wood workshops, the maximum indoor noise level of 96.9 dBA was measured at Mabanda ya Papa
Vocational Training Centre. The observed high noise level can be explained partly by tools used in the
workshop, nearby metal workshops and open market close to the surveyed workshop. Maximum
outdoor noise level of 86.6 dBA was measured at Makorora centre “Msikitini”. The reason for the
high noise level was observed to be contributed by traffic noise since the workshop is located near two
road junction. A minimum indoor noise level of 77.9 dBA and 72.1 dBA outdoor noise was recorded
at Sele furniture. These noise levels exceed the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS, 2005) limits in
workshops which recommend a daily exposure duration of not more than 8 hours (85 dBA) or 4 hours
(90 dBA).

The results of this study are similar to those of other studies done in small scale industries in Tanzania.
A survey made by Kweka and Young (2009) on noise level in wood workshops in Morogoro
Municipal reported that about 67.5% of all measurements were above 85 dBA and more than 5% were
above 90.0 dBA. Similar result were observed in wood and metal works industries in Dar es Salaam as
reported by Mbuligwe (2004) who observed that workers were exposed to high noise levels of more
than 90.0 dBA. A study conducted at cement factory in Tanga by Mndeme and Mkoma (2012) to
assess work zone noise levels revealed noise pollution problem in cement factory which can interferes
to workers performance. The noise levels were found to be higher than TBS and WHO acceptable
limit in some production section.

TABLE 2: Maximum, minimum, mean and standard deviation of noise levels recorded in wood
workshops in Tanga city.
Workshops Indoor Noise Level Outdoor Noise Level
Max. Min. Mean±SD Max. Min. Mean±SD
Burhani Saw Mills Ltd 92.6 86.5 89.8±1.6 83.9 77.6 79.2±1.8
Karata Furniture 95.0 90.3 92.3±3.4 84.4 74.4 76.7±1.4
Makorora Centre “Msikitini” 95.7 92.1 93.3±0.9 86.6 83.3 85.0±1.4
Mkomeni 85.5 92.1 81.2±0.2 78.3 74.5 75.7±0.6
MPVTC* 96.9 91.8 93.9±0.9 85.9 83.6 84.6±0.6
Sele Furniture 85.1 77.9 81.4±0.7 79.0 72.1 75.2±0.9
*Mabanda ya Papa Vocational Training Centre’s

Workers response to noise pollution

This study reports the socio-demographic characteristics of workers in cereal milling machines and
wood workshops in Tanga and their response to the effect of noise pollution. Of all the respondents,
81% were male and 19% female, 62% of the respondents were aged below 25 years. About 47.6% of
respondents have been working for more than 2 years in respective workplace whereas 38% of
workers had secondary education and other trainings. Most of the workers had positive attitudes
towards noise health hazards, 90.5% of them realized noise being potential source to health effects.
33% of the respondents encountered very high noise level in their work areas. Workers in cereal
milling machines and wood workshops reported to face health problem caused by high noise levels,
40.5% claimed to have encountered hearing problems, 38% reported to encounter headache, 14%
encountered bad temper while the rest few reported to have loss of concentration due to noise problem
in their workplace. Figure 1 shows worker’s response to noise health effects. However, among the
respondents with hearing problems 7% had reported to have serious hearing problem.

 2014, St. John’s University of Tanzania

 SALUMU ET AL. 744

50

40

Respondents (%)
30

20

10

0
Headache Hearing problems Bad temper Loss of
concentration

Figure 1: Distributions of the health effects encountered by the respondents.

Exposure to noise and the use of noise protective gears

The exposure to noise working environment and the use of noise protectors by workers was
investigated. 45.2% of workers reported to work under noise environment for more than six hours a
day while the rest reported to work below six hours per day. The Tanzania Environmental
Management Act s.140 (1) (EMA 2004) through the National Environmental Standards Committee of
the Tanzania Bureau of Standards, requires workers exposed to 85 dBA noise level to have not more
than 8 hours working time per day.

Workers in cereal milling machines and wood workshops were examined on the use of noise
protectors which included the use of ear muffs. It was found that some workers did not realize the
importance of using noise protectors. 76.2% of the workers examined had positive attitudes towards
the use of noise protectors. Only 38.1% of the respondents reported to use noise protectors. There
were different reasons from the respondents for non-usage of noise protectors; 42.9% of the
respondents reported that they didn’t use because protectors were unavailable, 42.9% disliked the use
of protectors and the rest claimed that noise protectors reduced work performance.

CONCLUSION
This study showed that there is noise pollution in cereal milling machines and wood workshops, and
workers were exposed to higher noise levels than the recommended limit by TBS and WHO. It was
found that most of workers were aware of the noise health hazards in their respective working places.
Although most of the workers had positive attitudes towards the use of noise protectors, the results
showed that workers reported not to use noise protectors because they reduce their work performance,
had no protective gears in their working area and others were not interested to use noise protectors.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Authors acknowledge special research funds granted to the first author from the Higher Education
Students' Loans Board (HESLB) of Tanzania. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of owners,
on-site supervisors and workers in the milling machines and wood workshops surveyed in this study.
Thanks to Sokoine University of Agriculture for logistics support.

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 2014, St. John’s University of Tanzania