Kansas City Chiefs fans' broke Seattle Seahawks' fans' record of having the loudest outdoor stadium by creating 142.2 decibels worth of noise at Arrowhead Stadium during a Monday night game on September 29, 2014.
By comparison, standing on an aircraft carrier has a noise level of 140 decibels. Standing 30 feet from a jet at take-off has a noise level of 150 decibels.
While most industrial facilities offer hearing protection to their employees, there are some very basic, yet overlooked, questions you can ask of your hearing conservation program (HCP) to determine if you are maximizing its effectiveness.
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL), commonly known as sudden deafness, occurs as an unexplained, rapid loss of hearing—usually in one ear—either at once or over several days. It should be considered a medical emergency. Anyone who experiences SSHL should visit a doctor immediately.
Updated clinical guidelines published the journal Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery say cotton swabs are not appropriate for earwax removal. In fact, information for patients in the guidelines say not to put anything "smaller than your elbow in your ear."
Occupational hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses in the United States, yet it does not often come top of mind when we consider workplace incidents.
When an employee can’t hear properly, his or her performance at work declines and the impairment might cause more accidents and injuries to occur. Not only that, but the employee’s entire lifestyle is compromised by the hearing loss.
Approximately 22 million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise at work each year. Over the past 20 years, government agencies have consistently identified noise-induced hearing loss as one of the top concerns of workers.
Here’s what experts recommend for communicating with individuals who have minor hearing loss:
1. Thou shall not speak from another room.
2. Thou shall not speak with your back toward the person with a hearing impairment (or their back toward you).
Many companies implement the required elements for an OSHA standard Hearing Conservation Program, believing they have stopped noise-induced hearing loss at their workplace.
Honeywell has announced the Howard Leight TrustFit™ Pod push-in foam earplug that provides workers with properly fitting ear plugs to protect against noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).
