With International Noise Awareness Day taking place this week, we wanted to share the results of a new Centers for Disease for Disease Control and Prevention report that highlights the not-so-silent dangers of working in a loud environment.
Since hearing loss is the most common type of work-related injury in the United States, the authors wanted to determine how often it occurred across nine industry sectors known for their noisy work environments and what the toll was on workers’ quality of life. The list included public safety and law enforcement, mining, and manufacturing work. They analyzed the hearing tests of nearly 1.5 million employees from 2003-2012, and also calculated how many healthy years of life were lost due to hearing-related disability.
The Findings
In total, 13 percent of workers experienced some degree of hearing loss. The research found mining to be the toughest industry on the ears, with 17 percent of workers having some form of hearing impairment. These workers also had the highest rate of exposure to “hazardous” noise, with 76 percent high levels of exposure.
The second largest percentage of hearing-impaired employees was seen in construction at 16 percent, with manufacturing coming in third at 14 percent. Although fewer manufacturing workers (37 percent) are exposed to hazardous noise levels, in sheer numbers of workers, they make up the largest number of workers with hearing impairment.
Across all industries, the authors estimated that 2.53 healthy years were lost annually with the highest prevalence of workers with hearing impairment in the mining sector, followed by the construction and manufacturing sectors. Here’s a summary of the number of healthy years lost by industry sector:
Industry Estimated # of Healthy Years Lost
Mining 3.45
Construction 3.09
Healthcare and Social Services 2.69
Manufacturing 2.66
Wholesale & Retail Trade 2.57
Transportation, Warehousing 1.54
The Take-Away
With today’s hearing loss prevention strategies and technology, occupational hearing loss is a preventable condition. The study concluded that “Concurrent with prevention efforts, early detection of hearing loss by consistent annual audiometric testing, and intervention to preclude further loss (e.g., refitting hearing protection, training), are critical.”
So if you or someone you know is exposed to high noise levels on the job, make sure to get your hearing checked annually to help identify any change in hearing that might indicate under-protection from workplace noise and allow you to take preventative measures to ensure that your quality of life doesn’t suffer after the job is done.
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Source: Masterson EA, Bushnell PT, Themann CL, Morata TC. Hearing Impairment Among Noise-Exposed Workers — United States, 2003–2012. Morbidity and Mortal Weekly Report. 2016