Noise Exposure and Hearing Loss Among Workers at a Hammer Forge Company

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brueck, Scott E. ; Eisenberg, Judith S. ; Krieg, Edward Jr. ; Morata, Thais C. ; Murphy, William J. ; Zechmann EL
• Description:
  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) evaluated continuous and impact noise exposures and hearing loss among workers at a hammer forge company. Full-shift personal noise exposure measurements were collected on forge workers across 15 different job titles; impact noise characteristics and one-third octave band noise levels were assessed at the forge hammers; and 4,750 historic audiometric test records for 483 workers were evaluated for hearing loss trends. Nearly all workers' noise exposures exceeded regulatory and/or recommended exposure limits. Workers working in jobs at or near the hammers had full-shift time-weighted average noise exposures above 100 decibels, A-weighted. Impact noise at the hammers reached up to 148 decibels. Analysis of audiometric test records showed that 82% of workers had experienced a significant threshold shift, as defined by NIOSH, and 63% had experienced a standard threshold shift, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). All workers with an OSHA standard threshold shift had a preceding NIOSH significant threshold shift which occurred, on average, about 7 years prior. This evaluation highlights forge workers' exposures to high levels of noise, including impact noise, and how their hearing worsened with age and length of employment. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Hearing
  • Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced
  • Noise
  • Noise, Occupational
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Noise exposure
  • Noise induced hearing loss
  • Impact noise
  • Threshold shift
  • Hearing threshold
  • Author Keywords: noise
  • impact noise
  • noise-induced hearing loss
  • hearing loss
  • hammer forge
• ISSN:
  0734-0451
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  485-502
• Volume:
  44
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20068141
• Citation:
  Semin Hear 2023 Nov; 44(4):485-502
• Contact Point Address:
  Scott E. Brueck, M.S., CIH, COHC, Hazard Evaluation and Technical Assistance Branch, Division of Field Studies and Engineering, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, Mailstop R-9, Cincinnati, OH, 45226
• Email:
  zcd6@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Seminars in Hearing
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230355/cdc_230355_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.37 MB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:853930987301b3bf0cc72c96b59b6161fb465f64785df9d109ac63a7f8d67ba72f9bf82f04a2f4bc2800649aecdbeeee5bacad0577092f213070d7d4813f6ec9