News on noise
FROM THE HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE NEWSLETTER ISSUE 24 – APRIL/MAY 2010
Is your workplace putting you and your workers’ hearing at risk?
Over one million employees in Great Britain are exposed to levels of noise that could damage their hearing.
That’s why HSE is encouraging manufacturers to make quieter machinery and urging others to lend their support by joining the ’Buy Quiet’ campaign.
Around 170,000 people in the UK are believed to suffer deafness, tinnitus or other ear conditions as a result of exposure to excessive noise at work. The ’Buy Quiet’ campaign is about getting everyone with an interest – manufacturers, suppliers, employers, unions, insurers and consultants – to look at what they can do to reduce the risk.
Did you know....?
- Hearing loss caused by work is preventable but once your hearing has gone it won’t come back.
- Damage can cause loss of hearing ability and people may also suffer a permanent sensation of ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus.
- Hearing loss caused by exposure to noise at work continues to be a significant occupational disease.
- There are many practical, cost-effective ways of protecting yourself and your workers.
- Factors that contribute to hearing damage are noise levels and how long people are exposed to the noise, daily or over a number of years.
- The most efficient and effective way of controlling noise can often involve simple steps such as reducing vibration and cutting time spent in noisy areas.
Are you at risk?
You are at risk if you can answer ’yes’ to any of these questions about the noise where you work:
- Is the noise intrusive – like a busy street, a vacuum cleaner or a crowded restaurant – for most of the working day?
- Do you have to raise your voice to have a normal conversation with someone about 2m away, for at least part of the day?
- Do you use noisy powered tools or machinery for over half an hour a day?
- Do you work in a noisy industry (see examples below)?
Are there noises because of impacts (see examples below)?
- Do you have muffled hearing at the end of the day, even if it is better by the next morning?
Symptoms and early signs of hearing loss
~ Conversation becomes difficult or impossible.
~ Your family complain about the television being too loud
~ You have trouble using the telephone
~ You find it difficult to catch sounds like ’t’, ’d’ and ’s’, so you confuse similar words.
~ You hear ringing, whistling, buzzing or humming in your ears – this could be permanent tinnitus.
Generally, hearing loss is gradual. By the time you notice it, it is probably too late. We want to prevent hearing loss before it happens. You can also suffer instant damage from very loud or explosive noises.
Industries
Industries most likely to involve noise include:
~ Construction
~ Demolition or road repair
~ Woodworking
~ Plastics processing
~ Engineering
~ Textile manufacture
~ General fabrication
~ Forging, pressing or stamping
~ Paper or board making
~ Canning or bottling
~ Foundries
Tools
Tools and equipment that can cause hearing loss include:
~ Hammering
~ Drop forging
~ Pneumatic impact tools etc
~ Drills
~ Chainsaws
~ Explosive sources such as cartridge-operated tools or detonators, or guns
Many of these hand-held tools also transmit vibration into your hands and arms.
Lend us your ears
Hear for yourself how hearing can be gradually lost over a working life.
Visit www.hse.gov.uk/noise/demonstration.htm and listen to the recording.
These hearing loss simulations all include the effect of noise exposure and ageing. At the end of each simulation, you can compare what hearing levels are like when undamaged by noise. There is also a short video clip which shows the sort of damage that noise can cause in your inner ear.
Get some answers
How do workers become deaf? How long does it take? What are the effects? Do you have a noise problem at work? What legislation covers noise exposure to members of the public, e.g. from construction works?
Find out the answers to these and many more frequently asked questions: www.hse.gov.uk/noises/faqs
Where can I find out more?
For more information on noise: www.hse.gov.uk/noise
Also available from the website free of charge:
Pocket card Protect your hearing or lose it! INDG363 Contains notes on good practice which you may find helpful.
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg363.pdf
HES’s leaflet Noise at work: Guidance for employers INDG362(rev1)
This leaflet is for employers on good practice and considering what they need to do.
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg363.pdf
Controlling noise at work. The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005. L108
Provides guidance for employers on protecting people from the risks caused by noise at work. As well as setting out the legal obligations under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, it introduces a revised approach to the management and control of noise in the workplace.
Hand-arm vibration. The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 L140
Explains to employers, health and safety advisors, specialists and occupational health professionals what they need to do to reduce and control the risks from hand-arm vibration (HAV) under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005.
Noise-induced deafness
Here are some brief examples of workers who have suffered long-term problems after being exposed to excessive noise at work. But for in-depth examples, you’ll find an extensive range of detailed noise control case studies on HSE’s website at : www.hse.gov.uk/noise/casestudies.
They are all real examples of how some companies have reduced noise at work. They can help you in controlling noise in your workplace by giving ideas of what can be achieved. Many noise problems and solutions are not unique and are relevant in several industry sectors
DJ
A 24 year old DJ found that, after working in a club where the sound system was particularly loud, he went home with a ringing sensation and it took several days for his ears to recover. The ringing in one ear has never completely stopped and he has become sensitive to loud music. He is now careful to wear suitable earplugs when DJ-ing.
Dye house
A dyer who worked in a dye house for 15 years had a hearing check and was found to have 50% hearing loss at the age of 37. He now has problems using the phone, and needs an amplifier. Traffic is hard to hear unless he is right next to it, so crossing a road becomes stressful. When driving, he often stays in third gear too long, as he can’t hear the engine revving. Hearing loss could have been prevented if he’d been properly protected.
Summary
215 workers (all male) qualified as new cases of noise-induced deafness under the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) scheme in 2007/08. This has increased from 175 in 2006/07, the first year-on-year increase since 2002/03. However, numbers remain relatively consistent with 2005/06 levels (210 workers).
In 2008/09 an estimated 17,000 people who worked in the last 12 months were suffering hearing problems which they believed to be work-related, according to th3e Labour Force Survey.
The industry groups with the highest average annual incidence rates of new cases qualifying for IIDB (based on 2006-08 figures) were extraction energy and water supply, manufacturing and construction.
A Medical Research Council survey in 1997-98 gave a prevalence estimate of 509,000 people in Great Britain suffering from hearing difficulties as a result of exposure to noise at work.