When we reflect on accidents and injury we tend to think of cuts, broken bones and blood. We however neglect the risk of other injury that might be less visible – such as that of hearing loss!
Accidents or risks at the workplace that result in loss of hearing might be more threatening to the health of workers as the damage might be more difficult to recover from!
Our Partner site at MiningSafety.co.za has made available a section of content titled “Noise-induced hearing loss protection and Mining Safety”. The suggestions and advice provided is important for many working environments outside the mining industry , and we would like to share some of these suggestions:
Avoiding and reducing exposure to noise induced hearing loss
- Engineering Controls – Apply engineering controls at the noise source or along the noise path to reduce exposures. These controls may include vibration dampeners, absorptive panels, barriers, muffler, or variations in force or drive speed of motors.
- Maintenance – Perform regular maintenance on machinery to prevent additional noise.
- Administrative – Implement administrative controls to limit the exposure time for employees. These controls may include rotating employees in noisy areas, providing quiet breaks for noise-exposed employees, or moving processes such as maintenance or cleaning to quieter workshifts.
- Buy Quiet – Purchase new products or machinery with enhanced noise control.
- Maintain – Noise is often a machine’s cry for maintenance. Repairs can reduce noise levels.
- Block or Isolate the Source – Erect barriers, or relocate noisy equipment (or their operators) behind heavy walls. Doubling the distance from a noisy piece of equipment effectively reduces the sound energy by half (about a 3 dB drop in noise level).
- Schedule Employees – Administrative controls include such actions as giving noise-exposed employees breaks in quiet areas, or rotating employees into noisy jobs for short durations.
For more info view: