Ear Plugs And Earmuffs? Nah She'll Be Right Mate

High risk noise environments are a real and serious threat to the health and safety of employees, which can cause irrepairable hearing loss.

Statistics have shown that 27% of people suffer from hearing loss as a result of exposure to excessively loud noises (Industrial Noise). This hearing loss results because loud noises cause actual physical damage to the delicate hearing mechanisms of the inner ear. This damage to hearing from loud noises occurs when noise levels exceed 85 decibels which is similar to the noise of heavy traffic.

Exposure to loud noises in the work place is also the single most common cause of hearing loss in Australia. The most dangerous aspect of exposure to excessively loud noises over extended periods of time is that the damage to your hearing can be so gradual and painless that you may not notice the minor deteriorations from day to day.

Whilst ear plugs and earmuffs are excellent forms of protection, their effectiveness can be drastically reduced when staff fit them incorrectly or continually lift their earmuffs to talk with other workers.

Exposure to constant and excessive loud noise can create other health problems aside from hearing loss. It can cause headaches, elevated blood pressure, fatigue, irritability and increased susceptibility to colds and other minor infections.

Currently there is no treatment to reverse the damage caused by hearing loss and prevention of the damage is still the only way to effectively deal with the issue of high level industrial noise.

Some ways of controlling or reducing exposure to loud noise in the work place include: changing or modifying noisy equipment, locating noisy equipment in a separate or soundproof area, modify the use of noisy equipment to minimize the number of people that will be exposed to the noise or where noisy equipment is directly handled by employees by using personal hearing protection such as ear plugs or ear muffs.

The extent of Hearing issues in our society is prolific and below are statistics gathered from the eHealthMD site:-

- More than 40 Million American suffer from hearing loss.

- Approximately 40% of hearing impaired are under the age of 65.

- Hearing loss is the third leading chronic disability, following arthritis and high blood pressure

Keep in mind that this illness is not recoverable, their are treatments for it however the loss of quality of life is very serious. Hearing loss can leave the sufferer frustrated and embarrased that they are unable to hear what people are saying. They may become reclusive and isolate themselves from groups.

Sound hearing protection in your workplace is essential for employees hearing safety. There are additional responses in addition to ear plugs and ear muffs. Isolate the noise and work areas and nuture a happier more effective work force.

This article was develop with statistics provided by Victorian State Government Department of Human Services and eHealthMD.com