Face masks have become the new normal. While many don’t mind wearing masks, many others find it inconvenient. For people with hearing loss, however, masks can create a significant barrier to effective communication.
Keep reading to learn how face masks make it more difficult for the deaf and hard of hearing to communicate and how you can help them more effectively communicate with them on.
Why Face Masks and Hearing Deficiencies Don’t Mix
Many people with hearing loss use facial expressions and lip-reading to understand conversations. That’s why face masks create issues for the deaf and hard of hearing. The mask covers the speaker’s face, hiding cues a person with hearing loss may rely on when speaking with someone. A mask makes it more difficult for the listener to tell if someone is happy, angry, smiling, or frowning.
Additionally, a cloth face mask reduces a speaker’s volume by about 5 decibels and makes it difficult to hear high-frequency sounds such as “s,” “f,” and “th.” The problems may be exacerbated if a thicker, heavier type of mask is worn. N-95 masks, for example, reduce volume by about 12 decibels.
When combining lowered volume with social distancing and clear plastic shields found in many public places, it becomes even harder for individuals with hearing loss to participate in conversations.
Finally, face masks that loop behind the ears make it difficult to wear hearing aids. The hearing devices can become dislodged, or the mask loops interfere with the microphone’s sound quality.
Fortunately, there are solutions that people with hearing loss can use to their advantage.
Face Masks for Hearing-Impaired Patients
Masks with clear plastic panels are available to help hard-of-hearing people read lips and see facial expressions. However, these masks also block high-frequency sounds. The plastic panels essentially reflect sounds back to the speaker instead of toward the conversation partner. Combining a clear face mask with an amplification system that utilizes a lapel microphone is a good solution to help someone with hearing loss.
Surgical masks and loosely woven cotton masks are ideal for sound. If you wear these style masks, you will still need to take steps to help ensure a deaf or hard-of-hearing person can understand what you’re saying. These might include: Rest of post:
Workplace INTEGRA, Inc has room in the CAOHC Classes we hold at our Greensboro, NC Training Facility. Our June 16-18, 2021 class will have the students attending spaced to adhere to COVID. If you are due for your Re-cert class or need the 20 hour Certification, sign up here:
Summary: Plenty of people struggle to make sense of a multitude of converging voices in a crowded room. Commonly known as the ‘cocktail party effect,’ people with hearing loss find it’s especially difficult to understand speech in a noisy environment. New research suggests that, for some listeners, this may have less to do with actually discerning sounds. Instead, it may be a processing problem in which two ears blend different sounds together – a condition known as binaural pitch fusion.
I would like to announce my retirement from Workplace Integra, effective March 31, 2021. Although it has been 20 years, it seems like just yesterday when George Cook, Joan Evangelista and I founded Workplace Integra. We have always been guided by a principled approach of honesty, integrity and a feeling of being a part of something special. We are more than a company that performs hearing testing – we are a company that believes in hearing conservation. It’s a subtle difference, but an important one. By focusing on hearing conservation, we strived to emphasize improving our client’s employee’s quality of life by preserving their hearing well into their later years.
Over the past 20 years, I have had the pleasure of working with a fantastic group of employees. I am proud of what we all accomplished together and the bonds we built with our clients and business partners. I will always cherish my time with Workplace Integra and the many relationships and friendships formed over the years.
While I am moving on to my hobbies and attempting to improve my golf game, I will continue to support Workplace Integra in a consulting role as they continue to offer quality software, mobile testing and audiological consulting services.
The AAOHN Virtual Conference 2021 is under way. The Conference will continue this week and next week.
Visit www.aaohn.org for more information. Here is Conference information If you are registered, please visit the Virtual Workplace Integra booth here:AAOHN (vfairs.com) (this may take registration to access.
Contributed by Joy Victory, managing editor, Healthy Hearing Last updated
COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, has now been linked to many long-term complications, including heart damage, lung damage and neurological disorders. One emerging area of research is whether hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears) can result from coronavirus infection—either as a symptom or as a complication days or weeks later.
We do know that many different types of viral and bacterial infections can cause sudden hearing loss. But older coronaviruses that triggered epidemics, such as SARS and MERS, did not appear to cause hearing problems. What about SARS-CoV-2, the current coronavirus that’s causing a global pandemic?
Here is the 2021 CAOHC Class schedule from Workplace Integra:
Courses are approved and instructors are certified by the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC). This 20-hour initial certification training is referenced in both OSHA and MSHA noise standards. It is designed to train personnel conducting hearing testing; implementing or supervising hearing conservation programs. Topics include: click for more….
by Josh Frantz, Board Certified Hearing Instrument Specialist and Occupational Hearing Conservationist
We have all heard that car with the huge speakers turned all the way up roll by, rattling the windows of nearby buildings. Or we have been to a concert (maybe stood a little too close to the stage) with the music blaring so loud our ears were left ringing for hours afterward. These are the obvious, rare, and usually avoidable overly loud situations. But what about the noise our employees may be exposed to on a regular basis? How do we know when the volume is too loud, and more importantly, what can we do about it?
According to the CDC (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), “Hearing loss is the third most common chronic physical condition in the United States, and is more prevalent than diabetes or cancer. Occupational hearing loss, primarily caused by high noise exposure, is the most common U.S. work-related illness. Approximately 22 million U.S. workers are exposed to hazardous occupational noise.”
How much volume is too much?
Measuring the sound level in the work environment is how we determine if an employee may be one of those people regularly exposed to excessive loud noise. Government agencies, such as OSHA (The Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and the DOE (Department of Energy), each have their own standards that are similar but do have important differences.
Sound is measured in decibels (dB), and the higher the number of decibels the louder the sound is. The generally accepted level and exposure time to limit potential damage to a person’s hearing is 85 decibels over an 8-hour work day. As the noise level increases, the amount of allowable exposure time goes down. OSHA mandates that for every 5 dB louder, the exposure time is cut in half. The DOE exchange rate stipulates to cut the exposure time in half for every 3 dB increase in volume. This means that with 100 dB noise level (which is the noise level at a typical construction site with several tools and machines running), OSHA allows for one hour of exposure while the DOE allows for just 15 minutes.
How do I know if the work environment is too loud?
OSHA documents refer to a “quick and dirty” method of making a rough estimate as to the loudness of the work area. “A good rule of thumb to determine if a noise is too loud is the 3-foot rule. If an employee is standing 3 feet from someone and must shout to be heard, the noise level is probably over the OSHA action level and DOE exposure limit.” Here is my personal unwritten rule; if the noise is so loud that I involuntarily scrunch my face up like I just ate a lemon, it’s too loud! This amount of loudness likely requires hearing protection.
The most accurate way to measure noise at a work site is to use a noise dosimeter. These instruments are designed to measure the weighted noise level over a specific period of time and compare them to the standards provided by the government. This testing should be arranged if it is believed the work environment may be louder than 85 dB.
We have a loud area, what do we do now?
If a workplace is over the threshold for loudness, the employer should institute a Hearing Conservation Program. This type of program has many components, including regular employee hearing screening, record keeping and reporting, as well as hearing loss prevention. NIOSH (The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) recommends a three-step approach to controlling noise:
1. First, prevent or contain the escape of the hazardous workplace noise at its source (Engineering control) 2. Control exposure by relocating the worker to a safe area or creating shorter shifts in the loud workspace (Administrative controls) 3. Control the exposure with barriers between the worker and the noise (personal protective equipment)
It all adds up!
Our hearing is precious and should be conserved as much as and whenever possible. Be aware of the noise level in the work environment and the steps an employee can take to limit exposure. Most noise-induced hearing loss is permanent, not repairable, and most importantly, preventable.
About the author: Josh Frantz, NBC-HIS/COHC is Certified by the National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences, a Certified Occupation Hearing Conservationist and co-founder of Advanced Hearing Providers. Advanced Hearing Providers delivers hearing claims administration and cost containment in the workers’ compensation space. Any questions can be directed to Josh at: jfrantz@hearingprovider.com
Works Cited
Blackwell DL, Lucas JW, Clarke TC. Summary health statistics for US adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2012. Vital health statistics, series 10, no. 260. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Health Statistics, CDC; 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_260.pdf Themann CL, Suter AH, Stephenson MR. National research agenda for the prevention of occupational hearing loss—part 1. Semin Hear 2013;34:145–207. Tak S, Davis RR, Calvert GM. Exposure to hazardous workplace noise and use of hearing protection devices among US workers—NHANES, 1999–2004. Am J Ind Med 2009;52:358–71. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Education and Information Division, Preventing Occupational Hearing Loss – A Practical Guide
