Healthcare
Working in sensitive areas, such as hospitals, means minimising noise and disruption from building or maintenance works is likely to be a key priority.
Hospitals are healing environments and require a certain level of peace and quiet in order to get the best out of both patients and staff. Loud, noisy hospitals can be extremely disruptive to the healing process, meaning patients are unlikely to recover as quickly, and nurses and doctors cannot provide the highest level of care.
However, renovations and construction work is sometimes vital to provide improvements, extensions or repairs to hospitals, ultimately creating a superior environment for staff and patients.
Here are just a few things you can do to reduce noise disruption during that renovations and construction:
Schedule work at the least disruptive time
It’s incredibly important that patients are well rested during their time in hospital. Of course, whilst recovering from an operation or illness, patients may not get the best sleep possible anyway; they’re away from the comfort of their own home, there are unfamiliar sounds and smells and they have nurses and doctors coming in and out of their rooms. Add on the noise of construction works and it’s a whole new level of disruption.
To mitigate this, necessary work should be scheduled at the least disruptive times, preferably during the day when patients are not trying to sleep.
Use monitors to keep track of noise levels
Keeping track of noise and vibration levels can be helpful whilst renovations are taking place to monitor disruption levels. Once the noise level reaches a designated point, work can be adjusted and steps can be taken to reduce it. Over the past few years, the arrival of real-time monitoring systems has helped with this, leading to construction projects that occur compatibly with the environment.
Temporary noise reduction partitioning
Throughout the duration of the works, sound reduction panels can be used to shield the construction from patients and staff. They can be used to either construct a partition around the renovations, or to build temporary patient wards and cubicles.
Westgate’s Hoardfast Soundscreen is ideal for areas that require a durable, hygienic temporary screen with acoustic protection to minimise noise transfer. The panels reduce noise levels by an average of 34Db and have sound absorption: aw=1. This system also creates a safe, secure working enclosure with an attractive, clean appearance.
