Common sounds, placed on a useful scale.

A whisper is quiet at close range. Distance and room reflections can change the reading substantially.

Usually well below occupational exposure limits.

Normal conversation varies with vocal effort, distance, background noise and room acoustics.

Ordinary one-to-one conversation is generally not treated as a hearing hazard.

Vacuum cleaner readings change with the model, setting, floor, room and microphone position.

Duration matters more for repeated or occupational cleaning than for a short household task.

Road traffic changes with vehicle mix, speed, distance and surrounding buildings.

Long or repeated exposure near the upper end deserves attention.

Powered mower levels vary with the machine, blade, load, terrain and operator position.

Levels in this range can accumulate occupational noise dose quickly.

Concert levels vary by audience position, loudspeaker layout, venue, programme and averaging period.

At higher average levels, a full occupational reference dose can accumulate rapidly.

Crying levels vary strongly with age, vocal effort, distance, room and whether average or maximum is reported.

A close loud cry and repeated exposure are different contexts; the reading cannot assess health.

Sirens are designed to remain audible over other sound and can be intense at close range.

Move away from the source when practical; distance strongly affects the level.

Fireworks create brief impulse peaks, but this reference range is an A-weighted Fast reading from one display; true peaks can be higher.

Impulse sound is not well represented by a simple continuous-exposure estimate.