Avoiding Industrial Deafness with Ear Muffs
There has been an increase in industrial deafness in the workplace and there has been a growing need under occupational health and safety standards to ensure that employees receive hearing protection in the work place. Even a few minutes of exposure to high noise can sometimes cause partial deafness. Factors such as sound pressure (decibel level), frequency and exposure time all play a role in determining whether noise is harmful or just annoying. Deafness can be curtailed by introducing safety rated hearing protectors like earmuffs and ear plugs, thus reducing the exposure of workers to noise.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), employers are required to reduce noise at the source through engineering solutions and if it is not possible or economically feasible it is acceptable to use hearing protection devices as a temporary solution. These hearing protection devices should be appropriate for the environment at hand.
If you’re not sure whether the noise in your workplace is dangerously loud, you should consider your hearing at risk if noise affects you in one of the following ways:
• Normal conversation is difficult and you have to shout above noise to make yourself heard.
• You have continuous ringing in the ears after exposure to noise.
OSHA has established two decibel level thresholds: 85 db and 90 db and anything beyond these is believed to be hazardous. They have established rules for all employers to introduce a hearing conservation program for workers who are exposed to this level over the course of an eight-hour work shift. This hearing conservation program ensures that noise is monitored and workers are getting hearing tests and are not overexposed to noise.
Several different types of hearing protectors are available today and these are required to be offered to employees in order to introduce a level of personal choice. The employer is responsible for paying for the original equipment as well as replacements. While it is mandatory for employees to use the hearing protection , it is the responsibility of the employer to enforce it.
Ear-plugs and earmuffs are the types of hearing protectors that help decrease the pressure of sound that reaches the eardrum. The employer should ensure that proper fitting hearing protection devices are provided to the employees.
Ear plugs fit in the outer ear canal. They must totally block the ear canal with an airtight seal to be effective. An improperly fitted ear plug will not seal and can irritate the ear canal.
Earmuffs fit over the entire outer ear to form an airtight seal and are held firmly in place by an adjustable head band. The hearing protection device (HPD) can be selected depending on the environment. In extremely noisy conditions, it may be necessary to wear both ear-plugs and earmuffs together.
With occupational health and safety issues gaining prominence, many employers are realizing the increasing need to provide programs to increase workers’ awareness of industrial deafness and what can be done around the work place by employers to ensure that risks to hearing are considered and minimized.
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