The Guidelines for noise emission into the environment (GYS 263:2010) was recently approved as a national standard by the National Standards Council after it was developed by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) Technical Committee – Environment.

This mandatory standard, which specifies permissible or allowable noise levels for commercial, industrial, residential, institutional, educational, construction, transportation and recreational receptors in Guyana, for many, is timely and necessary to ensure that the requisite limits are applied in all sectors and communities throughout Guyana. It is expected that the guidelines established in this document will operate under and provide the necessary support to the Environmental Protection Noise Management Regulation of 2000.

In the standard, noise is defined as “unwanted sound which may cause or tend to cause an adverse psychological effect on human beings and includes vibration”. The unit for measuring noise is the decibel (dB) which describes the sound pressure level or intensity of sound. The new guideline values or limits for noise in specific environments, as stated in the standard include for residential, 75 dB in the daytime and 60 dB in the night time; for industrial, 100 dB in the daytime and 80 dB in the night time; and commercial, 80 dB in the daytime and 65 dB in the night time.

The establishment of these limits means that individuals who enjoy playing their music very loudly in residential areas, and commercial businesses and companies operating machines, generators and other sound emitters indiscriminately without the necessary mufflers, must urgently take the necessary steps to reduce these sound emissions to below the acceptable limits of the standard.

Other aspects addressed by the standard include the sampling method for the determination of noise levels, the method of analysis for the purpose of determining compliance with the limits, and a monitoring programme. The enforcing authorities of this standard include the Ministries of Home Affairs, Health, Labour and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Since noise affects all of us and is produced by many of us, it is important that we all understand and comply with the requirements of this national standard. Companies, promoters of public events, even residents and other interested parties can acquire a copy of this standard from the GNBS and take immediate action to implement the requirements therein, so as to reduce the emission of noise into the environment.