Abstract

Teachers in technology education shops (TESs) in high schools are at risk from exposure to occupational hazards, including physical work demands and chemicals, particulate matter and noise, as well as non-optimal working conditions negatively affected by temperature, humidity, and lighting. This study evaluated the exposure to noise of 17 TES teachers working in 17 wood-working, metal-working, and automotive shops in selected high schools in British Columbia, Canada, and examined the quality of the acoustical teaching environments due to background noise. This study characterized noise control measures in the sampled TESs and observed the safety practices of teachers during TES classes. The results of this investigation indicated that almost 60% of the participating teachers were exposed to unacceptable levels of noise during teaching and working in TESs. It also showed that TES acoustical environmental quality was adversely affected by high background noise levels due to poor room designs and settings. Practical recommendations were provided to reduce and control the exposure to noise in TESs and to enhance the quality of health, safety, and quality of teaching environment in these TESs.

摘要

高中技术教育商店（TES）中的教师面临职业危害的风险，包括体力劳动需求和化学药品，颗粒物和噪音，以及受到温度，湿度和照明负面影响的非最佳工作条件。这项研究评估了在加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省选定的中学的17家木材加工，金属加工和汽车商店的17名TES老师的噪声暴露，并研究了由于背景噪声引起的声学教学环境的质量。这项研究描述了抽样TES中的噪声控制措施，并观察了TES课程中教师的安全实践。这项调查的结果表明，将近60％的参与教师在TES的教学和工作中暴露于无法接受的噪声水平。它还表明，由于不良的房间设计和设置，TES的声学环境质量受到高背景噪音水平的不利影响。提供了一些实用建议，以减少和控制TES中的噪声暴露，并提高这些TES中的健康，安全和教学环境的质量。