Review

Construction noise management: A systematic review and directions for future research

Noise pollution is an increasing problem in our modern society [24], [106]. People in urban areas are exposed to different types of environmental noise such as traffic noise, train noise, airport noise and industrial noise [93]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the effects of noise pollution on human health have been accumulating in recent years [141]. Therefore, researchers have explored numerous approaches to protect people against different types of environmental noise [12], [37], [40], [101], [126].

There are several physical and mental health problems associated with noise exposure. Some of these adverse health impacts include hearing loss [91], an increase in the risk of ischemic strokes [60], [125], hypertension [24], [33], [107], cardiovascular disease [7], [15], associated risks that lead to myocardial infarction [8], [124], emotional and psychological impacts, pregnancy complications [103], restlessness, headaches, inadequate sleep [94], [104] and emotional and psychological impacts such as annoyance [81], [89], learning impairment [28], [90], [147] and reduction of working performance [113], [138]. The concerns related to the health effects of noise pollution have been raised in recent years, in the way that the European Union (EU) has often given a similar rating to the noise-related concerns as those of global warming [18], [93].

The construction industry is well known as an industry that generates noise pollution [84]. Construction noise emission can happen from construction activities with a wide range of scales from a small renovation task to a large construction project [76]. Construction noise emission from all scales of construction activities is a thread for human health and wellbeing and increases the risk of the above-mentioned physiological and psychological issues [69]. A wide range of people, including the immediate neighbourhood and construction workers are exposed to construction noise-induced health issues.

Construction noise is one of the main sources of noise pollution in many cities and degrades the comfort level of living spaces [152]. Construction noise is a big issue especially in high density urban areas, where buildings are close to one another and large population lives or works [76]. Noise pollution caused by construction activities is reported as one of the main reasons for complaints and disputes that cause delays and cost overruns for the construction projects [152]. For example, 88 % of all noise-related disputes in South Korea, between 2010 and 2017, was caused by construction activities [69]. Today about 55 % of the world’s population lives in cities and this number is expected to reach to 68 % by 2050 [133]. Considering the necessity of providing more buildings to accommodate the growing population, and the increasing density of cities, construction noise can be expected to be one of the highly prevalent issues in many cities.

In addition to the people in the surrounding area, construction workers are the other main receivers of construction noise. Construction is one of the largest and most hazardous industries in the world [6]. Twenty-five percent of fatal work injuries in the US happened in construction sector [134] and 21 % of work-related injury or illness in Australia occurred in the construction sector [5]. Construction workers spend a long time close to the noise sources which means they are exposed to high levels of noise. Therefore, construction workers are exposed to a higher risk of noise-induced health issues compared to people in the surrounding area [77]. In addition, exposure to high levels of noise can create safety issues for workers in construction sites [151]. Therefore, noise exposure is one of the most important and highly prevalent occupational hazards in the construction industry [77].

Noise-related injuries are most common in the construction industry with technicians and trades workers, machinery operators, drivers, and labourers most exposed [115]. According to previous studies, between 25 % of the US workforce and 28–32 % of the Australian workforce is likely to work in an environment where they are exposed to loud noise at work [61], [115], [130], [135].

Construction noise can affect the physical and mental health of construction workers similarly to the people in the surrounding area. The degree of the risk, however, would be higher for construction workers. The most common negative health effects caused by noise exposure for workers are related to the hearing system and may produce temporary deafness or even permanent deafness [31]. 19 % of hearing impairment among noise-exposed workers in the United States between 2003 and 2012 was from the construction industry [88] and 18 % of 65,300 accepted deafness claims from 2001 to 02 to 2014–15 in Australia come from the construction industry [115]. Noise can also mask speech and warning signals, making communication difficult, thereby increasing the risk of accidents in a noisy environment [54], [75], [151]. Prolonged noise exposure may also induce excessive fatigue in workers, which could lead to an increase in errors resulting from cognitive failure [25], [36], [108], [151]. Thus, construction noise is a factor in fatal accidents, with work-related accidents representing significant capital and productivity losses for the construction industry [151]. In addition to the negative effects of construction noise on workers’ health, research showed that construction noise can be a substantial factor of harm for residential and commercial structures in the surrounding area [127].

It is therefore necessary to establish substantial noise management plans to reduce the negative health and safety issues arising from the construction noise [72]. According to the WHO [13], the goal of noise management is to maintain low noise exposures, such that human health and well-being are protected. Although there are several studies conducted in the area of construction noise management, there is no systematic review to put together and categorize all the previous studies and investigate the current state of the art in this area. This paper aims to provide a systematic review of the previously published peer-reviewed studies in the area of construction noise management and provides directions for future research in this area according to the research gaps identified in the literature. First, a construction noise management framework is introduced by the authors. Then, the previous studies are classified according to the defined steps for the construction noise management framework and a detailed content analysis of the selected papers is presented. Finally, directions for future research are provided based on the identified research gaps.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In the second section, the systematic review methodology is presented. The third section depicts a statistical analysis of the reviewed papers. Classifications and content analysis of the reviewed studies are provided in this section. The fourth section presents an overview of occupational noise regulations. The fifth section provides best construction noise management solutions based on the literature review. The sixth section presents directions for future research based on the research gaps identified from the literature. Finally, we draw conclusions at the end of the paper.