Indicators of Hearing Protection Use: Self-Report and Researcher Observation

Details

• Personal Author:
  Daniell WE ; Griffin SC ; Neitzel R ; Seixas, Noah S.
• Description:
  Hearing protection devices (HPD) are commonly used to prevent occupational noise-induced hearing loss. There is a large body of research on hearing protection use in industry, and much of it relies on workers' self-reported use of hearing protection. Based on previous studies in fixed industry, worker self-report has been accepted as an adequate and reliable tool to measure this behavior among workers in many industrial sectors. However, recent research indicates self-reported hearing protection use may not accurately reflect subject behavior in industries with variable noise exposure. This study compares workers' self-reported use of hearing protection with their observed use in three workplaces with two types of noise environments: one construction site and one fixed industry facility with a variable noise environment, and one fixed industry facility with a steady noise environment. Subjects reported their use of hearing protection on self-administered surveys and activity cards, which were validated using researcher observations. The primary outcome of interest in the study was the difference between the self-reported use of hearing protection in high noise on the activity card and survey: (1) over one workday, and (2) over a 2-week period. The primary hypotheses for the study were that subjects in workplaces with variable noise environments would report their use of HPDs less accurately than subjects in the stable noise environment, and that reporting would be less accurate over 2 weeks than over 1 day. In addition to noise variability, other personal and workplace factors thought to affect the accuracy of self-reported hearing protection use were also analyzed. This study found good agreement between subjects' self-reported HPD use and researcher observations. Workers in the steady noise environment self-reported hearing protection use more accurately on the surveys than workers in variable noise environments. The findings demonstrate the potential importance of noise exposure variability as a factor influencing reporting accuracy. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Hearing Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Exposure Variability Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Hearing-impairment Hearing-level Hearing-protection Noise-exposure Noise-induced-hearing-loss Noise-levels Noise-measurement Noise-pollution Noise-protection Noise-sources Noise Exposure Assessment Occupational-exposure Personal-protective-equipment Personal Protective Equipment Protective-equipment Protective-measures Questionnaires Work-areas Work-environment Work-operations Work-practices Worker-motivation Workers Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  6
• Issue:
  10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035686
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2009 Oct; 6(10):639-647
• Contact Point Address:
  Stephanie Griffin, U.S. Coast Guard, Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic, Safety Environmental Health and Food Services Branch (Detached-Cleveland), 1240 East Ninth Street Suite 2129, Cleveland, OH 44199
• Email:
  stephanie.c.griffin@uscg.mil
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• End Date:
  20100831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4471053637baaa620528569f3d9fe81b2327b092d74af83afa88964ed4dd1f388aad7d86cb11ddcebf95277de324c455f2ae1da151a2ca81e9d4975616858f95
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187466/cdc_187466_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 279.58 KB ]