More than one in six Australians suffers hearing loss, a number expected to rise to one in four in coming decades, thanks to an ageing population and an increasing number of people being exposed to noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) in the workplace.
The resulting productivity losses, according to Australian hearing care and professional services groups, total more than $16.2bn, or $4,109 per person with hearing loss, mostly due to reduced employment of people with hearing loss ($12.6bn). Workers in their 50s and 60s are hit disproportionately hard, and are the most prone to further damage from workplace NVH. These numbers will be further swelled as the government pension qualification age rises to 67.
Air Springs Supply is the distributor for some of the world’s most effective NVH isolators. James Maslin, technical product manager at Air Springs Supply, says: “The hearing loss figures don’t surprise us, because it has been known for a long time that continual exposure to loud noise is the most common preventable cause of sensorineural hearing loss. This is the permanent type of hearing loss, which accounts for more than 90% of hearing loss in adults.
“It is important to note that there are many causes for deafness besides loud noise in the workplace – such as natural ageing and genetic factors – and much of industry is very much aware of the problem as its workforce ages. The use of personal protective equipment has expanded radically in recent decades, for example.”
Currently the issues affect men more than women, but this may change as more women join traditionally male-dominated industries such as manufacturing, construction, civil engineering, and mining and energy. These are all industries that are seeking to manage their NVH issues, both in the workplace, and in some cases in surrounding residential and business districts.
“So it is important not only to provide PPE to try to stop noise getting through to the ear, but also to cut off the noise at source – like crashing metal springs and unsuspended stamping, conveying, compressor, generator and HVAC equipment,” says Maslin. “As we all work longer, the risk issue expands further, with lost hearing posing communication issues and, ultimately, the loss of major skills because of a preventable problem.
“We are already getting people dropping out of the workforce because of problems with hearing and communicating, and this is costing both the individual and our skills base. It is one of the reasons why a person with untreated hearing loss earns an average of $10K less than people with no hearing loss or treated hearing loss.”
Air Springs Supply has decades of first-hand experience of the issue – its Firestone Airmount pneumatic isolators are proven to be a highly effective solution to NVH. These ultimate actuators, which support up to 40 tons per unit, not only silence intrusive NVH from machinery and plant, but also are suitable for suspending and protecting entire structures – including building and electronic facilities – against ambient NVH.
Super-silent Airmounts – either permanently sealed or fed by standard industrial compressor equipment – range from palm-sized to nearly a metre across, individually supporting weights extending from a few dozen kilograms up to more than 40,000kg. They are available in single, double and triple-convoluted types as well as rolling sleeve models, distributed nationally by Air Springs Supply’s supply and technical advice network.
Engineered from tough fabric-reinforced rubber, Airmounts are identical in construction to the air springs used in the suspensions of heavy trucks. They are also used beneath passenger railway locomotives and rolling stock, where they withstand grime and shock while providing the outstanding ride and isolation properties required. Examples of applications include: crushing and stamping equipment in heavy industry; vibrating screens, conveyors and elevators; compressors and generators; sorters, sizers and vibrating bins; garbage compactors and waste-to-energy equipment; bulk handling and minerals processing equipment; HVAC and refrigeration equipment; and complete structures up to 500 tons or more
Firestone’s fabric-reinforced solid rubber Marsh Mellow isolators provide a complementary low-maintenance alternative for quiet isolation of machinery vibration and for general shock absorption throughout industry. Marsh Mellows are constructed of a solid rubber core with a hollow centre and several plies of fabric-reinforced rubber as an outer cover. The plies provide the springs with stability as well as a consistent cylindrical shape, delivering consistent performance regardless of changing loads, while offering high lateral stability and compact size.
The low natural frequencies of Marsh Mellow springs mean they provide excellent isolation of forced frequencies in the range of 800-1,200 cycles per minute (13-20Hz). Marsh Mellow springs are quiet in operation, unlike steel springs which readily transmit high frequency structural noise and often suffer from coil chatter. A failing coil spring may crack, causing fragments of the coil to damage equipment, resulting in expensive downtime.
There is no silver bullet to this issue, says Maslin. Rather, individual approaches are needed for a multi-layered, expanding problem.
“Overall, we need to recognise that industry’s duty of care to its workers is changing,” he adds. “Australia currently has about two million people aged over 55 in the workforce – and the proportion of such workers is expanding. As Australia’s population and retirement age rises, there is a real and growing workplace hazard and risk management issue here, as OHS people know that one in three people in this group suffer hearing loss and one in two after the age of 60. And hearing protection needs to start as early as possible because the later effects of age and noise exposure are additive, so noise exposure may cause hearing loss in middle age that would not otherwise occur until old age. The problem is major, ongoing, predictable and, in many cases, preventable.”