title: Noise effect on comfort in open-space offices: development of an assessment questionnaire.
abstract: It is currently accepted that noise is one of the most important annoyance factors in open-space offices. However, noise levels measured in open spaces of the tertiary sector rarely exceed 65 dB(A). It, therefore, appears necessary to develop a tool that can be used to assess the noise environment of these offices and identify the parameters to be taken into consideration when assessing the noise annoyance. This article presents a questionnaire to be filled by people working in such environment, and a case study in different open plan offices. The majority of the 237 respondents consider that the ambient noise level in their environment is high and that intelligible conversations between their colleagues represent the main source of noise annoyance. This annoyance was significantly correlated with their evaluation of sound intensity, which could not be represented by A-weighted level measurements.
authors.affiliation: a Laboratoire Vibrations Acoustique, INSA , Lyon , France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pierrette
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Parizet
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chevret
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chatillon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004779:Environment Design; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009623:Noise, Occupational / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: ergonomics tools and methods; hearing; office ergonomics; perception; sound and noise