I feel the same. I dry my hands on my trousers and wear headphones in the toilets to avoid the blast of white (?) noise from other users of the high-speed dryers at work.
It wouldn't surprise me if the UK regulations on these devices also only measure the noise levels without hands in the airflow... there's no way these are legal when they are actually in use.
Don't know why you are being downvoted, but at my gym I go through the same situation. Whenever I go into the change room/washroom, I go to the locker furthest from the dryer, meters away from it. It doesn't really matter since every time someone activates it, it sounds as if it blowing right next to me.
It wouldn't surprise me if the UK regulations on these devices also only measure the noise levels without hands in the airflow... there's no way these are legal when they are actually in use.