Workers no longer have to be subjected to noise’s damaging effects — or suffer frostbite, for that matter.

By Yoel Naor, March 1, 2011

OH&S Magazine, Vol. 80 No. 3 March 2011

The wearing effects of noise pollution are well documented: Workers are put at risk for elevated blood pressure, hearing loss, and stress-related disorders. Even heart attacks have been attributed to chronic exposure to excessive noise. Researchers at Yale University concluded that stress caused by negative noise exposure can increase vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders.

While many of the problems from noise exposure are cumulative, short-term effects, such as the inability to concentrate and communicate, significantly affect productivity. The easiest rule of thumb is that noise is excessive when people can’t speak in normal conversational tones within a distance of 6 feet, or 2 meters. In an emergency, this inability to communicate can be life threatening.

Some IT workers are exposed to chronic noise pollution because of the fan speeds needed to cool equipment. They also are subjected to working in environments that are hyper-cooled. IT hardware generates a great deal of heat, and thermostats must be set low enough to offset this to prevent equipment burnout.

A recent IDC analyst study found the number one challenge facing data centers is power and cooling. According to a study by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, during a four-year period, the maximum temperature for operating IT equipment went up by 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius). A lapse in an IT department’s cooling system of only a few minutes can result in server meltdown, a very expensive proposition from both the equipment and lost time and data perspectives.

The resulting cost of overcooling and creating noisy IT environments is high, both in terms of human cost and budgetary outlay. Poor work performance, absenteeism, chronic health problems, and soaring electrical bills are obvious outcomes of IT equipment stored in traditional dedicated storage rooms.

Click here for remainder of article.

The following is an excerpt of an inquiry from a Workplace INTEGRA client to our Director of Audiology, George Cook, Au. D., CCC-A.  Edits were made to conceal the client’s identity and employee name.

Dr. Cook,

I have a situation in the XXXX location of our company and need your professional opinion.

Attached is an employee’s hearing record. This employee states that he cannot wear hearing protection on the job due to the fact he feels unsafe. He states he cannot hear other employees speaking to him while wearing hearing protection.

My questions are:

•  After reviewing this employees hearing record, can you please tell me if it is possible that he cannot hear other employees while wearing hearing protection, earplugs, or muffs?
• If the answer is yes to question number one, can you please suggest if there is a hearing protector that can help the employee hear other employees?

Thanks,

I have reviewed (employee) hearing tests.  I would believe wearing hearing protection may interfere with his understanding other employees at times.  He has a mild hearing loss in the speech range in the right ear and low normal hearing in the speech range of his left ear.  Additional attenuation from hearing protection would cause additional hearing difficulty.  However, this type hearing loss can sometimes be fitted with musician hearing protectors.  The difference between standard hearing protectors and musician’s protectors is the amount of attenuation in the high frequencies.  Standard hearing protectors will attenuate more in the high frequencies than in the lower frequencies.  Musician’s protectors provide a relatively flat (+/-5dB) attenuation across frequencies.  The purpose of these protectors is to attenuate sound without distorting the signal or music.  Flat attenuating hearing protectors have been successful in fitting employees with an already existing mild loss in the speech range.  There are several manufactures of musician’s hearing protectors. One of the more common names is Etymotics, with models ER9m ER15, and ER25, with increasing levels of attenuation.  Westone provides a custom molded musician’s protector and EAR has a light insert musician’s protector.  You might search the Internet for ‘musician’s hearing protectors’ and come up with a few more providers.

In addition, there are manufacturers of amplified hearing muffs.  These muffs will amplify up to 82dB SPL and protect with levels above that.  EAR/Peltor manufactures a gunfire muff, Tactical VI or Tactical VII, which will limit background noise to 82dBA.  This muff has been recommended successfully for employees with mild speech frequency loss working in intermittent noise levels needing to hear speech. The muffs cost between $140 and $170 so I would try the insert plugs first.  Once you introduce a new protector, everyone wants it.  They can be difficult to wear as they will amplify background noise in quiet as well as speech.  But if nothing else works, they deserve a try.  Both Bilsom and Peltor manufacture amplified muffs.  Sperian also manufactures an amplified muff, the Impact and Impact Sport models.

The Cadillac muff of this type is the Sensear.  They are designed to allow speech communication in the presence of background noise.  They are in the $400 range.  I tried on a pair recently at the NHCA Conference in Phoenix, AZ and they work well.  

As a precautionary note, this employee’s hearing has shown significant change in the right ear over the past few years.  The low frequency change is not characteristic of noise exposure.  He should be referred to an ear specialist for diagnosis and possible treatment.

His medical health history and medications need to be reviewed by his physician.  This employee must not work in noise without protection.  He has demonstrated hearing change and must protect his hearing from any contribution from noise on or off the job.

Regards,

George Cook, Au. D., CCC-A

 The supplemental issue of the International Journal of Audiology highlights research that was presented at NHCA’s 35th Annual Conference last year.

• Feb 05, 2011

NIOSH and the National Hearing Conservation Association have teamed to produce a supplemental issue of the International Journal of Audiology that highlights research that was presented last year at NHCA’s 35th Annual Conference. The studies featured in the issue focus on expanding the traditional boundaries of hearing loss prevention and sharing knowledge internationally.

“Noise-induced hearing loss is a preventable issue affecting workers across the globe,” said NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard. “This collaboration of the leading voices in this area is an important part of furthering our knowledge and research in how to better protect all workers.”

The research topics include:

• Noise-induced hearing loss in different economic sectors in Asia
• A large-scale epidemiological view of audiometric thresholds of adolescents and adults free from occupational noise exposure
• A new perspective on “normal hearing” in college students
• An exploration of the real-world challenge of promoting use of hearing protectors by construction workers
• Examining the challenges of minimizing hazardous sounds while preserving audibility and situational awareness
• How innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and education can potentially contribute to a successful hearing loss prevention program for musicians

Additional support was provided by Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Awards™, the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation, Etymotic Research Inc., G.R.A.S Sound & Vibrationm and HCI National Mobile Health Programs.

The 2011 Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Awards™ will be presented at the 36th NHCA Annual Conference in Mesa, Ariz., on Feb. 25. Nominations for the next round of awards will be accepted until Sept. 1, 2011. For information about the awards and this year’s conference, visit this website.

OSHA announced Jan. 25 that it has temporarily withdrawn from review by the Office of Management and Budget its proposal to restore a column for work-related musculoskeletal disorders on employer injury and illness logs. OSHA has taken this action to seek greater input from small businesses on the impact of the proposal. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, MSDs accounted for 28 percent of all reported workplace injuries and illnesses requiring time away from work in 2009.

OSHA and the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy will jointly hold a meeting to engage and listen to small businesses about the agency’s proposal. See the news release for more information.

The following is a question posed by a Workplace Integra client to our Director of Audiology, Dr. George Cook, Au.D., CCC-A.  Below is the question and Dr. Cook’s reply.

Dear Dr. Cook:

We understand the following OSHA program/monitoring guideline under 1910.95 (6):  Annual audiogram – At least annually after obtaining the baseline audiogram, the employer shall obtain a new audiogram for each employee exposed at or above an 8 hour twa of 85 db. 

We have approximately 30 employees in the administrative building office who do not go out into the plant intermittently as part of their job duties.  They may have taken a plant tour when initially interviewed or hired and possibly may take one or two tours during their tenure here for various reasons, but other than that, they are not and will not be in noise exposure areas intermittently of 80 – 130 db on an 8 hr. twa; therefore, how often should we perform audiograms on them?  

We do perform audiogram baseline on these employees too within six months of their hire date in case they do go on another plant tour with their dept. for whatever reason or in case they put in and take a job transfer with our company that might expose them to noise areas in our plant.

Hoping your professional knowledge and/or experience can help us conclude this matter.

Reply:

These employees would not have to be tested for OSHA compliance. Wellness testing is always a good idea. However, when wellness testing and changes occur, the recording standard requires a case-by-case be done to determine if the change is occupational, regardless of exposure level. Knowing an employee does not have noise exposure is a certain indication that the change is not work related.

I like wellness testing because on the outside chance the company has or is causing hearing change, certainly they want to know about it and can stop the change process. Wellness testing is done a some interval. 36 months, 60 months. Etc. Scheduling wellness testing can be done on Workplace Applications by going to the ‘Add, Edit Hearing Test’ screen and changing the retest months to, say 60 months, and saving the screen. I think 3, 4, or 5 years is a good idea, depending on the test load and staffing. The important thing to me is the employee be retested at some interval so we can pick up any changes regardless of the cause, thus a hearing conservation program for all employees.

How often does OSHA require a sound booth to be calibrated?

OSHA requires that the audiometric testing room – which can be an open room – be no louder than the maximum permissible ambient noise levels specified in the OSHA Noise Standard.  These noise levels are:

        500Hz        1000Hz        2000Hz            4000Hz         8000Hz

     40 dB SPL    40 dB SPL    47 dB SPL      57 dB SPL    62 dB SPL

 As a practical matter, it is not difficult to meet these numbers in a reasonably quiet and distraction-free room.  However, there is near universal agreement among professional hearing conservationists that these maximum permissible noise levels are too high, particularly for persons with hearing loss who often have difficulty with background noise interfering with audiometric testing.  Voluntary compliance with the more stringent criteria set forth in ANSI S3.1-1999 is recommended when feasible.  These noise levels are:

125Hz   250Hz   500Hz  1000Hz  2000Hz  4000Hz  8000Hz

39dB SPL  25dB SPL  21dB SPL 26dB SPL 34dB SPL 37dB SPL 37dB SPL

So back to the question:  how often does OSHA require measurement of background noise levels?  The answer is once, then again if something changes.

So what might change?

Relocating the booth, for one, but there is room for judgment.  If the booth is moved from one corner of the room to another, there may be no need to re-measure the background noise levels unless there is reason to believe that the noise levels are higher in the new location.

Practically, what will change the most over time is the booth itself – it will get older.  This means that the seal around the door will eventually degrade letting more sound into the booth.  More importantly, the ventilation fan will grow noisier over time and eventually need replacement.  The fans are not expensive, but can be tricky to replace.  Please have your local maintenance person give it a try as a non-ventilated sound booth can become uncomfortably warm and “stuffy” in short order.  A claustrophobic person will certainly be uncomfortable in a non-ventilated sound booth.

Bear in mind that ventilation is a major noise source when testing in an open room.  Be sure to test the background noise levels with the air conditioning/heating system on and off.  Background noise levels may be too high when the AC or heat is running.

For these reasons, it is recommended that background noise levels be measured at least every two years.  The technician providing an on-site audiometer calibration will have the necessary equipment (a rather expensive sound level meter with an octave-band analyzer) to conduct this background noise measurement.

I use a mobile service provider for annual audiometric testing.  Are they required to check background noise levels?

OSHA requires that all audiometric testing done for the purpose of compliance with the OSHA Noise Standard must be conducted in an environment where background noise levels do not exceed the maximum permissible (see the first chart above).  Mobile service providers must verify that background noise levels do not exceed the maximum, and must do this at each location where testing takes place.

Mobile services

What about documentation?

Important!  Acoustic and exhaustive audiometer calibrations must be documented on a form listing the specific functions tested and the results.  Similarly, background noise levels in the audiometric testing room must be documented as well.  This documentation is required by the OSHA Noise Standard and can be important in other legal proceedings (Workers’ Compensation, for instance).

The daily biological calibration and self-listening checks should also be documented.  This provides evidence that the audiometer functioned appropriately the day of the test.

How long should you keep these documents?  The recommended time is 30 years plus the employees time at the company- as these documents could be used in Workers’ Compensation cases involving long-term employees.

Can I do my own audiometer calibrations and testing room background noise level checks?

Certainly, you can and should do the daily listening checks described above.

There are no regulatory requirements stipulating who can and cannot do acoustic/exhaustive audiometer calibrations and background noise level checks in the audiometric testing room.  Anyone can do it with proper training and the right equipment.  The real issue is the cost of the equipment.  An audiometer calibration kit can easily run five times the cost of the audiometer.  Practically, only manufacturers and service providers doing many calibrations annually find it affordable to spend this much money on audiometer calibration equipment and to pay the cost associated with having that equipment calibrated annually.

Does Workplace INTEGRA provide these services?

Yes.  On-site exhaustive audiometer calibration checks and audiometric testing room background noise level checks are provided by:

• A licensed and certified Occupational Audiologist during the annual Audiologist Plant Visit, if this service is contracted
• A Technician for clients not receiving an Audiologist Plant Visit. For on-site services, see our website for our geographic service area: calibration services

Alternatively, audiometers can be shipped to our offices in Greensboro, NC or Indianapolis, IN for an exhaustive calibration check.  Request this service

Source: The News & Observer, By Sarah Avery, Staff Writer

It drives people nuts.

Ringing. Buzzing. Hissing.

For people with tinnitus, a phantom sound only they can hear plagues their every waking moment. Imagine a Salvation Army bell ringer camped out in your head every day, all day.

Despite afflicting an estimated 50 million people in the United States, often as a result of injury or repeated exposure to loud noises, the condition has no cures and few effective treatments, though a newer approach is now available at Duke University.

The intervention, called Neuromonics, retrains people to manage how they hear the internal sound. But it’s not covered by insurance and is expensive – about $4,500 for a device that resembles a portable music player and for sessions with an audiologist to tailor the treatment.

Teri Kim, 48, of Cary, NC started the therapy in August, and almost quit a month into it when she still hadn’t gotten relief from the high-pitched whine that has blared in her head for years. Then she gradually began having good days and even good weeks as the whine began to diminish.

Click here to read article in its entirety.

OSHA announced Jan. 25 that it has temporarily withdrawn from review by the Office of Management and Budget its proposal to restore a column for work-related musculoskeletal disorders on employer injury and illness logs. OSHA has taken this action to seek greater input from small businesses on the impact of the proposal. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, MSDs accounted for 28 percent of all reported workplace injuries and illnesses requiring time away from work in 2009.

OSHA and the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy will jointly hold a meeting to engage and listen to small businesses about the agency’s proposal. See the news release for more information.

Source: www.breitbart.com

Scientists have found a way to ease chronic ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus, by stimulating a neck nerve and playing sounds to reboot the brain, according to research published Wednesday.
There is currently no cure for tinnitus, which can range from annoying to debilitating and affects as many as 23 million adults in the United States, including one in 10 seniors and 40 percent of military veterans.

For Gloria Chepko, 66, who has suffered from tinnitus since she was four years old, the sound she describes as “like crickets… but also bell-like,” gets worse when she is tired.

“It’s awful,” she said. “Sometimes it is very loud, and it will get loud if I am under stress or if I have been going for a very long time and I am fatigued,” she said.

“If my mind is tired and I sit down I will only hear this sound.”

For some people, such as military veterans who are left with hearing damage after exposure to loud blasts and gunfire, the noise — which could also sound like roaring, whooshing or clicking — interferes with their ability to lead a normal life.

The US Veterans Administration spends one billion dollars per year on disability payments related to tinnitus, the most common service-related ailment in soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, industry experts say.

Scientists believe the disorder is caused by hearing loss or nerve damage, to which the brain tries but fails to adjust.

Click here for article in its entirety.

Source: Safety & Health, January 2011

Vancouver, British Columbia – Chronic exposure to workplace noise may double an employee’s risk of serious heart disease, indicates research from the University of British Columbia.

According to a study abstract published online Oct. 5 in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, researchers conducted interviews and medical tests with more than 6,000 participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004.

Participants were divided into two groups: people who endured persistent loud noise for at least three months and those who did not.  Employees who worked in noisy workplaces were 2 to 3 times more likely to have serious heart problems than their counterparts in quiet workplaces, the abstract said.

Researchers suggested loud noise may cause as much stress as sudden emotion or physical exertion, which prompt chemical responses that constrict blood flow to the coronary arteries.

One out of every 5 workers reported being exposed to workplace noise for an average of almost nine months in a row, according to a press release from BMJ Group, publisher of the journal the research appeared in.  Those participants with an average age of 40, were mostly male and tended to weigh and smoke more – two risk factors for heart disease – than employees in quieter workplaces.

“This study suggests that excess noise exposure in the workplace is an important occupational health issue and deserves special attention,” researchers said in the release.

Read the abstract at www.nsc.org/plus.