Hearing Conservation to Prevent Noise Injuries

1. Unlike other injuries, such as cuts and broken bones, hearing losses often take time to develop.

2. You may feel like you are used to the noises associated with construction. But even if the noise doesn’t bother you, you are still at risk of developing hearing loss.

3. As people get older their hearing degenerates, which means it gets weaker. Hearing aids can amplify the sounds they hear. Hearing loss on the job is destructive, which means the ear is being injured, not weakened. Hearing aids cannot compensate for this type of hearing loss.

4. If you need to raise your voice to speak to someone 3 feet away, noise levels might be over 85 decibels. Several sound-measuring instruments are available to measure the noise levels in a workspace. These include sound level meters, noise dosimeters, and octave band analyzers.

5. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Sound Level Meter App is one tool available to the public to download on mobile iOS devices that measures sound levels in the workplace and provides noise exposure parameters to help reduce occupational noise-induced hearing loss

6. Ways to control worker exposure to excessive noise and prevent hearing loss include using quieter machines, isolating the noise source, limiting worker exposure, or using effective protective equipment.

7. All styles of hearing protection have noise reduction ratings (NRR). The higher this number is, the better protection your device provides. NRRs can be found on the hearing protector’s packaging.

8. Disposable foam requires the plug to be rolled between the fingers, inserted into the ear canal and held in place until the foam is fully expanded. Once you remove this type of hearing protection, dispose of it.

9. Lets practice inserting disposable foam plugs according to the directions from the manufacturer. (Speaker - take the time to demonstrate putting in a foam ear plug if available)

10. Reusable plugs should be cleaned each time they are removed from the ear. Before putting in any type of ear plugs, it's important to wash your hands. Putting these types of plugs into your ears with unwashed hands can cause bacterial infections.

11. Another type of hearing protection used in construction is the type that is ear muffs, which are worn over the ear. These can be mounted directly onto hard hats. Ear muffs generally offer a slightly higher degree of protection than the type worn in the ear.

12. What loud equipment are we going to use today? And when should hearing protection be used when this equipment is in use?

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