Jobs With a High Risk of Hearing Damage

Too much loud noise at work can damage your hearing. In the Netherlands, work-related hearing damage ranks in the top three of occupational illnesses, alongside psychological and physical conditions; of all occupational illnesses, roughly one in three is a report of damage to the ears. In real terms, this means that more than half a million employees in the Netherlands are at risk of noise-induced deafness or noise-induced hearing loss. In practice, the number of cases of hearing damage is probably even higher, because many people with a hearing problem do not immediately connect the condition to their work environment. That is why it is worth knowing which jobs carry a high risk of hearing damage.

Hearing damage occurs when the tiny hair cells in the ear become damaged. Ageing can be one cause of this, but so can exposure to loud sounds. The sound pressure overloads the hair cells and they break down. As a result, they pass on no information or the wrong information, leaving you with poorer hearing or hearing only ringing or rushing sounds. This deterioration can no longer be cured.

Communication is of the utmost importance in practically every profession. Think of a work meeting or a safety briefing, for example. On top of that, smooth communication contributes to a positive atmosphere in the workplace. An employee with poor hearing may run into problems in this respect. Besides hearing damage, frequent and loud noise can also lead to fatigue, difficulty concentrating, stress and elevated blood pressure. The risk of having an accident also increases, because warning signals are not heard at all or are heard less clearly. The complaints caused by harmful noise often have an impact on absenteeism. In the worst case, the combination of psychological and physical complaints resulting from noise nuisance can even lead to depression or burnout.

To protect employees against hearing damage, employers must identify the places and the activities where risks could arise. (Additional) measures need to be taken, and the effectiveness of these measures must be monitored.

Sound

Sound can be described as the audible change in air pressure. If the difference in air pressure is very large, damage can occur in the ear. Exposure to a large dose of sound can cause a temporary reduction in hearing or ringing in the ears, or you may perceive a high-pitched tone. With occasional exposure, hearing will in most cases be able to recover from these complaints. With frequent exposure, on the other hand, permanent hearing damage can occur. This damage can appear suddenly, but it usually develops gradually. When someone is affected by gradually developing hearing damage, this can show itself in the following situations:

• the person in question keeps turning up the volume on the radio and TV

• they themselves often start speaking more loudly

• they have trouble holding a phone conversation or a conversation in a busy setting

• they can no longer hear soft sounds or high tones

• they sometimes hear humming, whistling or ringing tones.

Which occupational groups have a greater chance of work-related hearing damage?

The number of illness reports due to damage to the ears depends heavily on the sector in which someone works. Hearing damage in construction and the industrial sector are well-known problems, partly because of the noise produced by the use of heavy machinery. Yet the chance of hearing damage is also present in a large number of other professions. In these occupational groups, hearing damage often develops gradually, which means it is frequently not immediately linked to the practice of the profession in question. Jobs that involve high noise levels include:

• construction workers

• metal and woodworkers

• government personnel such as police and the armed forces

• farmers

• truck drivers

• forklift drivers

• musicians

• disc jockeys

However, harmful noise also occurs in less obvious places such as childcare centres, recreation centres, swimming pools and gymnasiums. Physical education teachers, for example, are at risk of hearing damage when they teach in gyms or sports halls with poor acoustics. The combination of squeaking sports shoes, bouncing balls, the shrill sound of referees’ whistles, hockey sticks clashing against each other and the shouting of an entire group of children produces a flood of noise. Because of the poor acoustics, caused by finishing the often large, high-ceilinged spaces with hard materials, a long reverberation time arises that results in unpleasant sound reflections. These reflections can have bothersome consequences for people who spend a longer time in the hall. Within the education sector, technology teachers and swimming instructors also have a greater chance of hearing damage.

People who work in the hospitality industry, for example in a busy bar, also have an increased risk of hearing damage. Dental hygienists and plaster technicians use devices that make noise continuously while in use. This, too, can result in hearing damage over time. Emergency services personnel and motorcycle police officers also frequently experience the nuisance of loud sounds during their work.

When is noise harmful?

The perceptible number of decibels differs from one workplace to another. In an average office you work in 50 decibels, whereas on the runway next to a departing aeroplane you are dealing with 140 decibels. Below we list a number of jobs that fall somewhere in between:

Job and number of decibels

Employee in a quiet office 50 dB Waiter 55-75 dB Teacher 75 dB Childcare 70-80 dB Distribution employee 70-84 dB ICU employee 45-85 dB Truck driver 75-90 dB Motorcycle police officer 90 dB Sports instructor 70-93 dB Swimming instructor 80-100 dB Dentist 70-92 dB Bar staff 90-102 dB Gym employee 95-100 dB Concert employee 110 dB

The noise level at which you can sustain permanent hearing damage starts at around 80 decibels. The hearing damage depends on how often and how long you are exposed to that level.

Legislation regarding noise

According to the Dutch occupational health standard (Arbonorm), it is harmful for an employee to work in 80 decibels for eight hours. If the noise level is constantly above 80 decibels, hearing damage can already occur within a single working day. To give you an idea: if you can no longer understand each other during a conversation while standing a metre apart, the noise level is in all likelihood above 80 dB. Employers are legally obliged to prevent all harm to their staff, including hearing damage. In addition, the employee also has certain obligations of their own.

As you read earlier, the noise level is expressed in decibels (dB). Every ear has a different sensitivity to various frequencies. To take this into account, noise is measured with an A-filter. The noise level is then expressed in the unit dB(A). The following rules concerning noise in the workplace are laid down in law:

• the employer must make hearing protectors available when the employee is exposed daily to more than 80 dB(A)

• the employee is required to wear hearing protectors when exposed daily to more than 85 dB(A)

• when exposure exceeds 85 dB(A), an action plan must be drawn up. This action plan is part of an RI&E, a risk inventory and evaluation. It maps out the risks and dangers for a company’s staff. It examines which occupational risks exist and which are the most important and/or the greatest. The action plan must make clear which measures are being taken to prevent hearing damage. The plan must be evaluated regularly.

• if the limit value of 87 dB(A) is exceeded, the noise must immediately be brought back below the limit value (the limit value is measured in the ear, taking the hearing protectors into account)

• employers must inform employees about the danger of noise

• in order to establish whether the measures taken are having an effect, employees are entitled to a hearing test at least once every four years.

To give you an idea of how quickly someone is at risk of hearing damage at a specific noise level, below you will find a number of workplaces with the (average) number of decibels and the number of safe working hours at that dB level:

Place, number of dB and amount of safe time

Swimming pool 80 dB – 8 hours Construction workshop 86 dB – 1 hour Metal workshop 95 dB – 15 minutes Nightclub 102 dB – less than 5 minutes

How can hearing damage be prevented?

To determine the daily dose of noise, the law assumes working days of eight hours. By exposing employees to noise for shorter periods, the burden can be reduced. Halving the duration will result in a reduction of 3 dB(A). So with exposure to 83 dB(A) for eight hours, the burden after 4 hours will become 80 dB(A), provided that the noise dose during the other four hours is considerably lower.

To reduce harmful noise in the workplace, an employer can take a number of measures:

• they can purchase and use quieter machines

• they can (have someone) develop quieter production methods

• they can place the machines in special, sound-dampening enclosures

• they can have their staff work in sound-dampening cabins

• they can try to limit the duration of exposure as much as possible.

If the measures mentioned above cannot be implemented, or cannot be implemented immediately, or if they prove to be insufficiently effective, hearing protection devices must be used.

Employers and employees are often unaware of the noise level on the work floor and the associated risks of hearing damage in construction and all other occupational sectors. When you deal with noise on the work floor on a daily basis, (preventive) hearing protection is highly recommended.

In the construction and industrial sector, hearing protectors are the most common: 70.6% of employees regularly use hearing protectors. Research shows, however, that not in all sectors do employees who are exposed to noise during working hours make use of hearing protection. The percentage is already considerably lower in the business sector (36%), agriculture (33.6%), transport (27.5%) and recreation (20.7%), and especially in healthcare (7.3%), hospitality (7.1%) and education (10.3%) it is rarely used, despite the high noise levels. These figures were obtained from the report “Occupational Illnesses in Figures” by the NCvB and the National Survey on Working Conditions by TNO.

Hearing protection at work

To reduce the risks of developing hearing damage through exposure to noise, you can use hearing protectors such as otoplastics. These are custom-made earplugs. Thanks to the precise fit, made for your ear, they are extremely comfortable to wear. The otoplastics contain a filter that ensures perfect attenuation of unpleasant sounds. Because various filters exist, there is a suitable filter for every situation that can be fitted to the earplug. The earplugs are made of a flexible, soft material, which benefits wearing comfort. Otoplastics are excellent hearing protection at work: they are small and barely noticeable, yet they last for years. They do their job very well in a subtle way and are an excellent investment for your ears.