Sound Industry and Hearing Loss - Part 1

Suppose you go to a club one night with a few of your friends. While you're there, you think the music is pretty loud, but you don't really give it much thought. Next morning you wake up and you can't hear!

Does that sort of thing happen? If so, who's responsible and what sort of damages do they face? These are the kinds of questions that the sound industry are starting to ask. Here's a great article from the July 1 issue of Sound and Video Contractor, as reported in Bob MacPherson's bhNEWS.

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Unsafe Levels
By Rachel Cruz & Dilys Jones
Sound & Video Contractor, Jul 1, 2001

The idea that you're responsible for the health and safety of your own ears is common sense. That you may be responsible for somebody else's is now being discussed...

ALL SOUND PROFESSIONALS SHOULD educate themselves about hearing loss and hearing conservation. Despite their expert understanding of acoustics - and often psychoacoustics - many audio professionals misinterpret or misunderstand information about general ear physiology. Misunderstanding these issues may result in inadvertent overexposure to loud sounds by professionals or a sound system's audience.

To some extent, the success of your business relies on your subjective ability to perceive acoustical flaws or sweet spots in a space. Hearing loss is correlated with decreased psychological health, higher stress and anxiety levels and, sometimes, more serious health problems.

Over the past few years, some bands, management companies, venues and audio engineers have had highly publicized lawsuits brought against them by audience members alleging hearing loss as the result of attending particular concerts. In the live-sound arena, out-of-court settlements have added up to imposing sums. Complaints have also been registered at movie theaters as new technology has improved the performance of sound systems and increased the volume of sound effects and scores. This means that members of the pro-audio industry and their consumers are becoming targets for litigation. Liability issues are becoming a concern as failures to understand and disclose potential sound hazards to a client may put staff, venue employees and the public at risk. Hearing conservation should always be a serious consideration for anyone who is responsible for instruction, installation or use of an audio system.

WHAT'S INVOLVED? When an employee files a worker's compensation claim, the business owner's insurance company reviews the claim, and a settlement may be agreed upon. If a claim is disputed, the business owner and the employee may retain legal services in the case. A qualified medical examiner reviews the case history and presents a report to a worker's compensation judge. An award may amount to $20,000 or more based on earnings lost, length of employ, future medical expenses and state codes. Legal fees, increased insurance rates and copycat claims may add to the overall cost.

WHO'S RESPONSIBLE?

It is increasingly important for the professional responsible for the successful installation and testing of sound systems to examine the hearing safety guidelines set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA clearly defines the amount of time that one can safely be exposed to particular sound levels. Based on a time- weighted average of noise exposure over an 8-hour period, OSHA recommends enacting a hearing conservation program whenever sound levels exceed 85 dBA for extended periods of time. At sound levels over 90 dBA, the law mandates the use of hearing protection and a reduction of noise exposure.

According to the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, regular exposure to sound levels of 110 dB for more than one minute poses the risk of permanent hearing loss. At 100 dB, no more than 15 minutes of unprotected exposure is recommended. Both the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and OSHA have developed standards for permissible sound level exposure in the workplace. While the OSHA guidelines are more widely known, hearing health professionals often cite them as being somewhat liberal. The NIOSH guidelines are more conservative. Both organizations use a tradeoff rule: For each increase in sound power, the duration of acceptable exposure is halved.

To guard against possible litigation from employees, contractors should implement hearing conservation programs following these guidelines. The ideal program includes baseline hearing tests for all employees and new hires. Incorporate an annual hearing exam into your healthcare benefits and give employees ready access to hearing protection devices. For an effective program, all elements must be attentively managed, which means educating employees and making sure they comply with the hearing safety protocols. As an additional precaution, educate clients on safety guidelines and suggest they take similar steps to avert litigation.

The idea that you're responsible for the health and safety of your ears is common sense. The idea that you may be responsible for somebody else's hearing health is now being discussed among sound contractors. The music, film and theme park industries do not fall neatly into career categories where overexposure to loud sound is legally monitored or regulated. The issue under debate in the pro- audio industry is whether we should carefully monitor and regulate our own sound levels before that right is taken away from us in the courtroom.

Here's Part Two