Not the audience guidance you may already know — a different legal duty entirely. Run the free 60-second check.
Audience guidance and staff duty are not the same thing.
HSE's audience guidance (107 dB event LAeq, warn above 96 dB) is not the compliance duty — audiences have no specific noise legislation covering them. It's staff exposure under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 that creates the legal duty, and that figure is only known once it's actually measured.
Audience guidance is not staff compliance.
Two different duties, easy to conflate, not interchangeable.
Front-of-house and bar staff work a full shift in it.
Their exposure is what the regulations actually cover.
One assessment, the standard that applies to your crew.
Not a venue-wide average that misses who is actually exposed.
Audience guidance isn’t the compliance duty — your staff’s exposure is, under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 action and limit values.
80dB(A)
Lower action value
85dB(A)
Upper action value
87dB(A)
Exposure limit value
96–107dB
Audience guidance (NOT staff duty)*
*HSE’s own event-safety guidance sets audience limits (107 dB event LAeq, warn above 96 dB) — but HSE is explicit that audiences have no specific noise legislation covering them. These are audience figures only. The real legal duty is staff exposure under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, and no sourced staff-exposure dB(A) figure exists yet for this sector — your own venue’s staff exposure is only known once it’s actually measured.
Audience guidance and staff duty are not the same thing
Measured properly. Proven properly. Shift by shift.
Sound engineers, security and bar staff can spend a full shift close to a PA system running well past the law’s lower action value.
HSE’s audience guidance (107 dB event LAeq, warn above 96 dB) is not the compliance duty — audiences have no specific noise legislation covering them. It’s staff exposure under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 that creates the legal duty.
Real exposure levels for your sound, security and bar staff, checked against the 80 / 85 / 87 dB(A) action and limit values — not an audience guidance figure mistaken for one.
What one assessment actually tells you
One assessment measures what your own staff are actually exposed to — not the audience limit. That matters because the audience-facing figures above aren't the compliance measure at all; staff exposure under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 is, and no sourced staff-exposure dB(A) figure exists for this sector until it's actually measured at your own venue.
What people ask
Does the audience noise limit count as our compliance duty?
No. HSE is explicit that audiences have no specific noise legislation covering them. The legal duty that applies is your staff’s exposure under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005.
Which staff does this cover?
Anyone who works a shift near the sound — sound engineers, security, bar staff and stagehands are the roles most commonly exposed near or past the action values.
Is a desk-based estimate good enough?
No. A real assessment is based on your own venue and your own staff’s actual positions and shift lengths, not a generic industry figure.
Is seeing whether I have a problem free?
Yes. Seeing whether there’s a problem is free. You only pay once you know you want the full report.
Is this a guarantee my venue is compliant?
No. It’s a calibrated assessment against the real action and limit values, not a certification or a legal guarantee.
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