If you find that you are struggling to hear others speak or often need to turn up the volume on a TV or radio and you work in an environment where the noise level is frequently above the 80dB level, then you may be suffering from a case of industrial deafness. Industrial deafness is grouped into four main types temporary loss of hearing, permanent loss of hearing, acoustic trauma and tinnitus and the difficulty hearing can be a percentage of full hearing in one or both ears, or if suffering from tinnitus there will be the sensation of external noise when no external noise exists.

Excessive and prolonged exposure to loud noise in the workplace can cause workers to be susceptible to cases of industrial deafness. According to the Health and Safety Executive (United Kingdom) more than one1 million U.K. employees are currently at risk of suffering from future industrial deafness due to the conditions in which they currently work.