Hearing loss is on the rise in Australia and around the world, and the manufacturing industry is an area where this is particularly acute.
Now, the fourth-largest cause of disability worldwide, hearing loss has become so prevalent that even the World Health Organization has taken notice, recently releasing a report to address the prediction that disabling hearing loss will affect about 13% of the world population by 2030 and one in four Australians by 2050.
Identified as one of the biggest risk factors is noise-induced or industrial hearing loss. Despite being entirely preventable, this remains all too common, especially in the Australian manufacturing and construction industries, with technicians, trades workers, machinery operators, drivers and labourers the most exposed.
The danger with hearing loss is that it often occurs gradually through prolonged exposure to moderate or loud noise levels, so by the time sufferers notice a change in their hearing, the irreversible damage has already been done. Hearing loss may present itself as tinnitus, the hearing of phantom sounds like ringing or static; or as hyperacusis, a reduction in tolerance for ordinary sounds. These conditions are often debilitating for the sufferer and can lead to feelings of isolation, depression and if left untreated, even dementia in later life.
Once recognising potential hearing loss, it takes sufferers on average seven years to seek professional help, so it is critical that prevention is a high priority. For the one million Australians who work in loud environments, removing themselves from the sound hazard, while the best solution, is often not practical. Thankfully, there are steps that can be taken at both a business and personal level to protect hearing in these hazardous environments.
The employer is responsible for preventing overexposure to hazardous noise, which means not exposing a worker to sounds of more than 85 decibels over an eight-hour shift, nor to any sound above 140 decibels at any time. Risks from workplace noise must be eliminated or minimised, but where this is not practicable and time limits have been put in place to minimise exposure, personal protective equipment (PPE) has a critical role to play in preventing permanent industrial hearing loss.
There is a wide range of hearing protectors currently available. Each product is tailored to different job requirements, environments and individual needs, so there is no simple cookie-cutter solution to choosing the right hearing protection for an entire workforce.
When selecting hearing protection, audiologist for Honeywell Industrial Safety, Theresa Schulz recommends measuring each individual’s daily protected exposure level, rather than using the labelled attenuation of the PPE to estimate how much protection workers should be getting from the hearing protector. Using the labelled attenuation is far less accurate, and can often lead to overprotection, which puts workers at risk of serious workplace accidents.
“Communication, comfort, size, shape and ease of insertion should all be considered when selecting hearing protection,” says Schulz.
Even if hearing protection is properly fitted to the individual and meets the requirements of the working environment, the necessary level of protection will not be achieved if the worker fails to wear the equipment properly, or uses additional PPE that negatively impacts its performance. For example, wearing safety eyewear at the same time as earmuffs might impact the efficacy of the earmuffs by loosening the seals, which reduces the amount of attenuation provided. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the eyewear worn has thin frames to reduce risk.
By considering hearing protection in combination with other safety requirements, as well as a worker’s individual needs, reducing the predicted rising number of cases of industrial hearing loss becomes a much more achievable goal.