News

I have seen this thin canvas sheet, with the words "sound barrier" on it, used at many construction and renovation sites in Singapore. It provides virtually no sound reduction. I can hear people talking on the other side of the screen, let alone loud construction noise. Labelling it a "sound barrier" is misleading as it gives a false sense of protection against noise. An acoustic or sound barrier should be hard and dense, and is rated by its transmission loss (TL), which is the number of decibels by which sound level is reduced by transmitting through the barrier. The Singapore Standard 657 Code of Practice for Workplace Noise Control states that a sound barrier should have a TL of 5 decibels to 10 decibels higher than the noise reduction required. This means that if the required noise reduction is 15 decibels, the TL of the barrier should be at least 20 decibels. There is no TL value specified by the manufacturer of this "sound barrier". The authorities should put a stop to the use of this material for noise control at workplaces.