SOUNDS OF A WORKING MILL
Deafening Noise
Mill workers were exposed to the constant high speed, high pitched sounds of textile machines, in the spinning and weaving rooms, sounds that were overwhelming and at dangerous levels 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Sounds calcualted in decibels, (dBA) were measured at 94-100 dBA,
and as a general rule, an individual can safely listen to various sounds at 85 dBA, for a maximum of eight hours a day. As you can imagine, this created a working environment that was high risk, resulting in many experiencing hearing loss.
Factory Whistle Tells Time
Phwwwwwhhtttttt...listen to the loud shrill , eerie sound of the steam whistle that kept the order of the mill worker's day. It sounded to announce times for their
start of the work day, when work stopped, as well announcing lunch hour.