Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-86-138-2017: Memphis Fire Department; Memphis, Tennessee

Details

• Personal Author:
  Tubbs, Randy L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the International Association of Fire Fighters, an investigation was made of possible health hazards at the Memphis Fire Department (SIC-9224) (MFD), Memphis, Tennessee. Concern focused on additional noise exposures from aircraft and its effect on the hearing ability of the fire fighters at two stations serving an airport. The MFD employed about 1,300 fire fighters assigned to 47 different stations throughout the city. Personal noise dosimetry was conducted on fire fighters at five stations over a 24-hour tour of duty. Noise dosimetry results revealed time weighted averages that ranged from 60 to 82 decibels-A (dBA). Levels encountered during code three responses with sirens and air horns reached 109dBA for a 1-minute time period. Noise exposures were slightly higher for the fire fighters at the stations near the airport. The audiometric results showed that the average Memphis fire fighter exhibited a characteristic noise induced permanent threshold shift. This hearing loss was statistically related to the amount of time which the fire fighter had been on the job with decreasing hearing ability as a function of years of service. The author concludes that a health hazard existed for these firefighters, and that a comprehensive hearing conservation program should be implemented.
• Subjects:
  Ear Firefighters Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Noise Occupational Health Safety Sense Organs
• Keywords:
  Fire Departments Firemen Hazard-Confirmed Hearing-loss Hearing Conservation Hearing Loss HETA-86-138-2017 Including Volunteer NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Noise-exposure Noise-induced-hearing-loss Noise Exposure OSHA Region 4

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA861382017
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Tennessee ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  20 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Flesch, Jerome P. ; Hartle, Lynette K. ; King, Michael V. ; Ruhe, Raymond L.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00194440
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB91-108001
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 86-138-2017, 1990 Feb ; :1-24
• Editor(s):
  Morris, Linda J.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1990
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9224 - Fire protection - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a0c468a1095291d3af77b58ba3aaf74213ae95201c49e52a70be0981407aaa3869ca27ccf5ecbc29434359bbc3610824a89fca6d5477a172697a025c2a022486
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171757/cdc_171757_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 275.41 KB ]