Workplace Noise: Dangers, Standards and Remedies

I'm curious as to the target audience for this blog.

Aside from the casual mention of "A" weighting, as a workplace noise reference, not much real information is presented.

Nothing here would cause any reader to assume that workplace noise is a hearing hazard.

It's probably safe to assume that we here at CR4 are the intended audience.

Most here would be aware of the dangers of noise exposure. One can suffer varying degrees of industrial deafness.

_{I think you are being a little precious here mate.}

Went through all the training, purchased the proper protectors and ensured they were all used. Absolute waste of money and time, as every one of the users had car stereos that could be heard in the next county.

Yes, been there done that as well. But, as an employer, I have responsibilities that I have to take care of and, noise is just one of them. Hearing loss is a compensable thing under workers' compensation. It isn't only good enough to supply the equipment and train the workforce, you must also have documentation to support any possible claims.

I know that people abuse their hearing more away from work than at work - can really tell when a car is completely closed and you can feel the vibrations coming from it. I spend hours training and getting people to use the proper hearing protection properly, but, I also give them an option which many have taken me up on, when they go to a noisy event, I give them ear plugs, and most use them.

As for the documentation an employer needs, it starts with audiometric testing to establish exactly what each employee's hearing range is, at the start of their employment(or as soon as possible thereafter). Now you have the base line, and, ideally, you want continued audiometric testing periodically to see if there has been any hearing loss. Without this, any employer is going to end up paying through WC whether the hearing loss is work related or not. I know, as we ended up paying for a hearing loss claim that was 25 years old, we had no records, so we payed (and did until the person died, and then there were the survivors benefits). No matter which way you want to proceed, it is going to cost employers money.

You cannot control what noise levels someone is exposed to outside of the workplace, only try to explain what the damage can be done and how to mitigate it. It seems to have worked for me.

As long as it is "free" money who cares. Recently had this discussion with my girlfriends son. He's 37 and his point of view parrots the sign in "Hard Rock Cafe" "If the music is too loud, you're too old". When I retired, I was given a hearing test. Remarkable how it changed over the decades. Mine is more or less normal for someone with thinning gray hair. I don't know the correlation between thinning gray hair and high end hearing loss, maybe the lack of folicles prevents the sounds from being trapped and directed to the ears. My girlfriend states that I hear less than half of what she says. I thought I was pushing it at 15%, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

Sounds like you may have the male only affliction of "selective deafness" commonly complained about by the female gender. I've been accused as well and my hearing hasn't really deteriorated since I started working in noisy environments as I have always worn appropriate hearing protection.

Rule of thumb that I was given to determine whether an environment might pose a hearing risk was that if you have to raise your voice to be heard when you speak then your ears are at risk of being damaged by the ambient noise and ear protection should be worn or you should move away from the noise source.

When wearing earmuffs in a noisy environment you can (normally) still hear a person talking next to you and they don't need to shout. They must be A weighted or something...

Emergency hearing protection:

note:....not all noises are loud......

Other one was if your ears are ringing then you HAVE _{(sorry for shouting)} damaged your ears.....extent depends on the persistence of the ringing and whether or not you walk around shouting all the time.

Obviously over your head.

Rules of thumb can make you deaf, too. That's why casual information regarding noise should be discounted and not passed on as meaningful.

The only way to actually measure sound exposure (sound pressure level) is with a sound level (dB) meter or a sound intensity probe.

There are very specific ways to do this and those methods are covered by many specifications, not rules of thumb, or guesses.

Hearing protection is NOT "A" weighted. Hearing protection is rated by the amount of noise attenuation (protection) they provide.

"A" weighting is a method of filtering the sound when measuring it to roughly equate to the sound heard by the human ear in the workplace.

Low frequency sound is more damaging to the ear than higher frequencies and is harder to control.

"Precious"? Sure am. But I'd rather be precious than deaf.

Hearing damage due to a noisy environment is certainly a problem that has to be mitigated with appropriate hearing protection. What gets so often overlooked when discussing the safety impact of a noisy environment is the difficulty to communicate other hazards in this environment.

That's true, I get asked to wear hearing protection when using a lathe but I like to hear the cutting sound clearly as it tell you a lot about what is happening even if you can't see the cut.

I think my hearing has been damaged more by going to Motorhead concerts than it has in the workplace.