Dive Brief:

• Smart phones can do a lot on construction sites, including measuring noise levels.
• A study commissioned by the National Occupational Safety and Health Administration (NIOSH) found, however, that 10 of 130 apps built for the iOS operating system and four of 62 built for Android phones met the institute's criteria for testing.
• The researchers doing the test used NIOSH's requirement for measuring devices to register within 2 db of a standardized sound level to be considered accurate.

Dive Insight:

Even though most apps could not hit the ±2 db standard, knowing the amount of noise at a site is still useful for protecting workers. It might be a good idea to avoid splitting regulatory hairs with the government based on every app though.