It has been brought to attention that the government wish to consider it a legal requirement in the new tax year to introduce laws insisting anyone applying or re-applying for an entertainment license must have a noise control device fitted to the venue. This will be the final NAIL for ALL entertainment in the UK as the level at which these devices CUT you off is dreadfully low and damaging.

petitions.number10.gov.uk

My personal view: If you want to save your hearing buy some ear plugs and stop hugging the speakers! Or at least make venues supply cheap ear plugs to those who want to use them.
I'm stick and tired of an interfering govenment, with the smoking ban causing empty dance floors as everyone fucks off outside for a cig (and this is coming from a non-smoker) and combine this above then we may as wells kiss goodbye our club scene along with many live band venues.

Please add spuds!

can of worms here

fucking labour government the prince of darkness strikes again

I think it's a good idea. I was recently at a club where the speakers really hurt my ears - I don't want to have to wear ear plugs!

as they say, if its too loud your tooo old

and db limits will not address the problem of badly eq'd pa's.....

Sorry Gekko, I'd support the idea...

I consider myself lucky (so far) to have escaped permanent damage to my ears.
I worked in clubs for 8 years, 4-5 nights a week.
That was clubs that were controlled by a head office for sound levels.
Imagine staff, managers, DJ's, doorstaff and so on that work in smaller chains or private clubs with no strict guidelines or controls in place...

The occasional visitor is unlikely to sustain permanent damage from 2-5 visits a month, even from levels considered unsafe. BUT, even for them, it is still very much possible.
Imagine the staff, exposed to this10-25 days per month, from start to finish every night..

I think it's for these people the suggestion was made to pass a new law, and I support it.
Don't know if you're aware, but the sound action levels were changed about a year ago, and included length of expoure etc, so it generally only applied to staff to wear hearing-protection. I believe this will be the case again, just with a peak level max, and a sustained level max at the main customer areas.

Either way, like arby said, bad eq (like ear-piercing treble!) is much more of a problem than sustained "high" balanced music volume.

And finally, I don't think they will get approval to "force" customers to wear hearing protection. It'll be yet another stern warning sign to adorn the already overcrowded licensed venue entrances, maybe with a possible max fine (that will never be enforced) and a 2 week BBC advertising stint between 2am and 6am. (Like the one warning kids not to play with matches..)

Well, that's my somewhat educated and experienced guess anyway..