Hearing Conservation and Safety in the Workplace

Hearing Conservation and Safety training covers many important subjects that are relevant in today's world. Today we are living in a world that is filled with noise. There is noise everywhere and some of it is damaging to our health. If you walk down a street then you will hear the sound of cars, people talking, birds and dogs barking. A lot of noise we take for granted and don't even consider how it affects us, but without it, our lives would be much different.

The sounds that surround us can be extremely important in how we connect with our environment. Certain noises in the home and office can cause damage over a certain amount of time. This damage might eventually lead to hearing loss and the need for a hearing aid. Before we realise it, the noise we hear on a daily basis can damage our hearing permanently.

There are around 10 million people that are suffering from the damage caused by noise. Noise not only causes hearing loss, but it can also affect our physical and mental health. People that experience loud noise on a regular basis are more likely to suffer from stress, lethargy, difficulty concentrating, low self esteem and tend to be more accident prone.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration created a regulation to help protect employees from high levels of noise pollution in the work place. This regulation was named, "The Occupational Noise Exposure Standard". This regulation specifies that employees are trained on how to care for their hearing when in the work place. It provides a basic knowledge of how work place noise can cause damage and hearing loss if the right procedures are not in place.

Protection starts with awareness and teaching employees about all areas of sound pollution. Employees will learn about the effect of noise on hearing and how to avoid excessive noise in the work environment. It will also teach employees the reason why hearing protection is so important.

Noise is referred to as any unwanted sound although harmful noise is a lot more than that. Noise has a lot of different characteristics, but there are three kinds that can be damaging to hearing. The first is called 'frequency' and is especially damaging when the higher levels of frequency are heard on a regular basis. It is the high pitch sounds that can cause damage, but also the louder noises should be avoided also.

The second kind of damage can occur with a sound's volume. Louder noise is particularly damaging especially more powerful sounds. As the volume multiplies it creates a much more powerful sound energy which is very harmful to the hearing.

The third harmful element of sound is the amount of time you spend listening to it. The more powerful, louder sounds should be avoided if possible. If it is not possible to avoid powerful sounds then the time spent around them should be limited. When noise reaches a loud level of 90 decibels over eight hours duration then your hearing is in danger. This is when OSHA's Noise Exposure regulation says you should take measures to protect your hearing. The Hearing Conservation And Safety Course help to educate employees about the dangers of noise before it is too late.