58% of Young Brits Have Hearing Damage: Leading Noise Engineer Demands Legal Limit
Sep 29, 2026
Workers are protected by law from loud noise. Audiences at gigs, clubs and festivals are not, and a noise engineer says that has to change.
Hertfordshire, United Kingdom Sep 29, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - David Kilpatrick, founder of Advanced Noise Solutions and a noise control engineer who has spent 40 years protecting factory workers' hearing, is calling on the Government to set a legal limit of 85 decibels on amplified music and speech.
It follows a 2025 survey of 2,000 young adults for the hearing charity RNID, which found that 58% of UK 18- to 28-year-olds have already experienced hearing loss, tinnitus or both after listening to loud music. Three quarters knew the risk. Over a third still did not plan to wear hearing protection.
Kilpatrick says the problem is not awareness. It is the law.
"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."
Since 2008, everyone working in a music venue, from DJs to sound engineers, has been protected by noise at work regulations. The paying audience standing closer to the speakers is protected by nothing. The only UK figure for audiences is a Health and Safety Executive recommendation of 107 decibels. It is guidance, not law, and nobody enforces it.
Same room. Two different rules.
The harm builds fast. In a typical nightclub at around 100 decibels, the full daily dose allowed at the 85 decibel work limit runs out in just 15 minutes. And the damage is permanent: the hair cells in the inner ear do not grow back.
Britain is also out of step with its neighbours. France, Belgium and Switzerland all set legal limits on amplified sound. Britain sets none.
"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."
"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."
The full evidence, including a country-by-country comparison and a timeline of UK noise law, is covered in the hearing loss campaign. Kilpatrick sets out why the Government must act in his full article: 58% of Young Brits Are Losing Their Hearing: The Government Must Act.
The public can help by sharing the campaign and asking their MP why amplified sound still has no legal limit.
About Advanced Noise Solutions:
Advanced Noise Solutions is a UK industrial noise control specialist founded in 2003 by David Kilpatrick, a mechanical engineer who specialised in noise reduction at Bath University. David still runs the company and carries out every project himself. With 40 years of industrial noise work behind him, he has delivered projects for many of the UK's best-known food, drinks and pharmaceutical companies.
Media Contact
David Kilpatrick
01727 864667
Source :Advanced Noise Solutions
This article was originally published by IssueWire. Read the original article here.
More News
Renting in London - 'I pay £2,000 for one bedroom'
We ask people in the capital how much they pay for their homes.
'I live in the dark': How rising bills are shaping daily life
Errol McGuiness says he has changed his daily routine to cope with higher household bills.
From The Diplomat’s burgers to Argo’s egg waffles, Hong Kong bars are raising the bar on food
The queue outside Bar Leone isn’t just for its acclaimed cocktails. More than a few guests are making a pilgrimage for Leone’s signature smoked olives – cheekily called “the world’s best olives (maybe)” – and its mortadella sandwich, with layers of thinly sliced mortadella, creamy whipped ricotta and tangy pickled chillies sandwiched between crispy focaccia. Up the road at sister bar Montana, the pulled-pork sliders have their own following. Not long ago, bar food in Hong Kong usually meant a...
If You’re A Bit Of A Chaos Traveler, You Need These 34 Products More Than Anyone
Come here, fellow walking messes. It's time to invest in a slim wallet tracker and some shoe bags for your dirty sneaks. View Entire Post ›
40 Travel Products Under $20 That Are Worth Every Penny
These silicone bottle covers and these clear waterproof shoe bags are things you get yourself now so you can thank yourself later. View Entire Post ›
Get Ready To Be Called "Mary Poppins" — 27 Teensy Tiny Travel-Sized Items That'll Fit In Your Purse
You’re always gonna be prepared. View Entire Post ›
Build Your Dream Late Night Road Trip And We'll Expose Your Most Powerful Hidden Talent
Are you secretly the chaos whisperer? View Entire Post ›
Brunello Cucinelli on director Giuseppe Tornatore’s documentary about his life
When designer and entrepreneur Brunello Cucinelli announced that he would be releasing a documentary about his life directed by Oscar winner Giuseppe Tornatore, it caught many by surprise. Titled Brunello, Il Visionario Garbato (Brunello: The Gracious Visionary), the film combines interviews and real-life footage with re-enactments to show Cucinelli’s childhood and his early days as a striving entrepreneur and designer, long before he became known as the “king of cashmere”. Works of this type...
'I'm 96 and have 15 million followers': The grannies taking over TikTok
Grandma Droniak, Nonna Gracie, Viv Truran and Barbara Costello have all found fame on social media in their later years.
How AI microdrama Yanbian Qingmei is driving interest in an ancient Chinese calligrapher
While the Tang dynasty (618-907) is synonymous with a golden age of Chinese arts and culture, its glittering reign was fractured by one of history’s most devastating civil wars. Today, the life and work of the revered Tang dynasty calligrapher Yan Zhenqing, a key figure in that 1,200-year-old tragedy, are capturing the attention of millions, partly thanks to an AI microdrama. The series titled Yanbian Qingmei, which roughly translates to Green Plums by the Inkstone, has accumulated more than 100...
How Cantopop diva Paula Tsui defined an era with her contralto voice and polka dot dresses
This is the 88th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. With her signature polka dot gowns, umbrella skirts and velvet-deep contralto voice that defied the high-pitched norms of her era, Paula Tsui Siu-fung did not just become a Cantopop superstar; she defined the very archetype of the Hong Kong diva. Over a career spanning more than five decades, her record-shattering live performances and unprecedented album sales have cemented her...
Grid operator says lights will stay on this winter after concerns
The assurance from the National Energy System Operator comes amid concern from its engineers about their ability to ensure adequate supply.
YOUR NEWS, OUR NETWORK.
Do you have Great News you want to tell the world?
Be it updates about your business or your community, you can make sure that it’s heard by submitting your story to our network reaching hundreds of news sites across 6 verticals.