Noise can impact our lives in many ways. Noisy environments can impair your ability to enjoy life to the fullest and it can cause irreparable hearing loss. It’s not just hearing loss that is affected by loud situations, your balance and mental well-being can be compromised as well.
The NIDCD (National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders) shows the following statistics:
- Men are more likely to have hearing loss than women.
- Approximately 36 million Americans suffer some sort of hearing loss.
- About 15% of adults with hearing loss were exposed to loud sounds in work or leisure.
- Roughly 25 million Americans have experienced tinnitus (ringing in ears).
Additionally, untreated hearing loss may contribute to loss of balance and dizziness, which is the second most common complaint at doctor’s offices. This can also contribute to injuries from slips/trips/falls due to inner ear issues.
OSHA requires that any workplace with a time weighted average of 85 dBA or higher for an 8- hour shift must participate in a hearing conservation program. NIOSH also recommends that exposure to noise over 100 dBA be limited to only 15 minutes per day! It does not take 8 hours of exposure to cause a hearing problem if the sound is loud enough.
Please review both the OSHA and NIOSH standards to better understand the requirements and expectations of noise monitoring and hearing conservation in the workplace.
A workplace hearing conservation program should include the following:
- Monitoring the work environment. Testing can be done by a qualified professional. Many Westfield loss control representatives are capable of testing your work areas. Testing should be repeated if new equipment or controls are introduced to monitor changes.
- Baseline and annual audiometric testing (hearing tests) performed by a qualified testing agent or medical professional.
- Providing affected employees with approved hearing protection devices (HPDs) and enforcing their use in the workplace.
- Employee training and education. This includes new hire orientation as well as annual refresher training to all affected employees.
- Record keeping of noise survey results as well as maintaining records of audiometric testing for employees.
Outside the workplace, Americans enjoy rock concerts, live in noisy cities, and wear MP3 earphones. Leisure activities contribute to hearing loss as well, maybe more so because they are personal choices of enjoyment and we choose to expose ourselves. Excessive noise exposure in children may cause learning disabilities, behavioral issues, and a lifetime without clear hearing. To protect yourself and your children at home consider the following:
- Set the sound level on your MP3 player and lock it. This way you or your child cannot accidentally exceed the desired volume.
- If you have to shout to be heard, it’s too loud.
- Wear ear plugs to concerts. The average rock concert rocks out at 115 decibels, that’s like sandblasting without ear protection!
- Use hearing protection while mowing. The average mower can be 90 – 110 decibels.
- Never stick objects into your ears. You risk rupture of the ear drum.
- Seek medical attention when your ears feel funny – this includes ringing, stuffiness, “popping,” or other pressure.
Hearing loss is a serious issue, both at home and at work. Take responsibility to protect your hearing and the hearing of others.
