Noise exposure and hearing disorders

Details

• Personal Author:
  Byrne, David C. ; Morata, Thais C. ; Rabinowitz PM
• Description:
  Exposure to unwanted sounds, or noise, is a common on-the-job occurrence. An unfortunate consequence is work-related hearing loss, a condition which has been listed as one of the most prevalent occupational health concerns in the United States for more than 25 years. Hearing loss can be a seriously disabling condition due to the integral role of hearing in human communication. Hearing-impaired individuals often avoid situations in which communication is difficult, rather than risking a misunderstanding and potentially embarrassing mistakes. This tendency leads to isolation, difficulties at work, and possibly adverse psychological consequences. The following scenarios illustrate difficulties associated with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL): 1. Going to restaurants, parties, or other social gatherings becomes a chore, since background noise or music makes conversation difficult, if not impossible. 2. Watching television requires the volume to be set very loud, making it irritating or annoying for the rest of the family to be in the same room. 3. Working in noisy environments can make communication difficult and increase the risk of workplace injuries due to an inability to hear environmental sounds and warning signals. 4. Dealing with tinnitus (the perception of sound in the absence of external acoustic stimuli) becomes an unexpected consequence for some, who expected a hearing loss to result in silence, not an ever-present ringing in their ears. Greater awareness and improved noise-control strategies are needed for the prevention of these hearing disorders. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Mental Disorders Mental Health Noise Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Disabled-workers Hearing-disorders Hearing-loss Noise-exposure Noise-induced-hearing-loss Noise-levels Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Psychological-disorders Psychological-effects Worker-health Workers

  More +
• ISBN:
  9780195397888
• Publisher:
  Oxford University Press
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  461-475
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038205
• Citation:
  Occupational and environmental health: recognizing and preventing disease and injury, sixth edition. Levy BS, Wegman DH, Baron SL, Sokas RK, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 Jan; :461-475
• Editor(s):
  Levy BS; Wegman DH; Baron SL; Sokas RK
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing ; Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and environmental health: recognizing and preventing disease and injury, sixth edition
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2efe57041e0cb2453fae032edee3ab9ed27e42b2c5901b555dbd692c9cb5c63bb43dc97121a7ecb4596ccdc5646784f1488bee0a4e0a221e514c18fa2b2cdde0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191985/cdc_191985_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.03 MB ]