A leading UK noise control engineer is urging the Government to introduce a legal 85-decibel limit for amplified music and speech, warning that young people are being exposed to potentially permanent hearing damage without the protections already provided to workers.

David Kilpatrick, founder of Advanced Noise Solutions, has spent around four decades working to protect employees from excessive workplace noise. He believes similar safeguards should now apply to members of the public attending nightclubs, concerts, festivals, sporting events and other venues where amplified sound can reach high levels.

His call follows a 2025 survey of 2,000 young adults conducted for hearing charity RNID. The survey found that 58% of UK adults aged between 18 and 28 had experienced hearing loss, tinnitus or both after exposure to loud music.

Despite three quarters of those surveyed being aware of the risks, more than a third said they still did not intend to use hearing protection.

Kilpatrick argues that this shows awareness alone is not enough and that the gap lies in regulation.

"If you work in a noisy factory, the law is on your side. Your employer has to measure the noise, act on it at 85 decibels and give you hearing protection. Walk into a nightclub, gig, football ground or a wedding disco that same evening, and the law says nothing at all."

Workers Protected, Audiences Exposed

Since 2008, people working in music and entertainment venues, including DJs and sound engineers, have been covered by workplace noise regulations.

Audience members attending those same venues, however, do not receive equivalent legal protection.

The UK's Health and Safety Executive provides a recommendation of 107 decibels for audiences, but this remains guidance rather than a legally enforceable limit.

The result, according to Kilpatrick, is effectively two different standards operating inside the same environment: one for employees and another for the paying public.

Hearing Damage Can Build Quickly

The amount of time someone can safely spend around loud sound falls sharply as noise levels increase.

At approximately 100 decibels, a level commonly experienced in nightclubs, the equivalent full daily noise exposure permitted at the 85-decibel workplace threshold can be reached in only around 15 minutes.

The consequences can be permanent because the delicate hair cells inside the inner ear responsible for hearing do not regenerate once they have been damaged.

UK Behind European Neighbours

Kilpatrick also points to regulations elsewhere in Europe.

Countries including France, Belgium and Switzerland have introduced legal limits covering amplified sound, while the UK currently has no equivalent statutory audience limit.

He argues that reducing excessive volume would be a straightforward measure requiring little additional infrastructure because venues already control their sound levels.

"The solution costs nothing," says Kilpatrick. "Turn the volume down to a reasonable level and you protect people's hearing, and the music still sounds good. It is a dial that already exists, that someone is choosing to turn up too far."

Kilpatrick says he has raised the issue with successive Governments for decades but has yet to see the change he believes is necessary.

"I have been lobbying Governments to do this for decades, with no success," he adds. "It is not radical. It is the protection workers have had for a generation, extended to everyone else."

Campaign Calls for Government Action

Advanced Noise Solutions has published supporting evidence for the campaign, including comparisons of amplified-sound regulations in different countries and a timeline covering UK noise legislation.

The full evidence is available through the hearing loss campaign.

Kilpatrick also explains his case for regulatory action in his article, 58% of Young Brits Are Losing Their Hearing: The Government Must Act.

Members of the public are being encouraged to share the campaign and contact their MPs to ask why the UK still does not impose a legal limit on amplified sound for audiences.

About Advanced Noise Solutions

Advanced Noise Solutions is a UK industrial noise control specialist founded in 2003 by David Kilpatrick.

Kilpatrick is a mechanical engineer who specialised in noise reduction at Bath University and continues to run the company and personally undertake its projects.

With approximately 40 years of experience in industrial noise control, he has completed projects for a range of well-known UK businesses across the food, drinks and pharmaceutical sectors.

Media Contact

David Kilpatrick
Email: d2@advanced-noise-solutions.co.uk
Telephone: 01727 864667
Website: https://www.advanced-noise-solutions.co.uk/

Source: Advanced Noise Solutions