Work and Noise Induced Hearing Loss
August 2006 - Hearing aid for 999 crews deafened by sirens
August 2006 - Hearing loss and high-speed
dental tools
November 2006 - The
global burden of noise-induced hearing loss
January
2007 - Hearing
Loss Suits Hit Siren Manufacturer
February
2007 - Hearing Difficulties Put Farmers at
Greater Risk for Injury
February 2007 - Hearing
Loss in Agricultural Workers
March
2007 - Occupational
Hearing Conservation Sounds Good to Me
March 2007 - Going
Beyond the Minimum with Hearing Conservation
March 2007 - Occupational Hearing Conservation and Hearing
Protectors
March 2007 - Dual protection can save your hearing
March 2007 - AIHA Asks OSHA to Lower Noise PEL
April 2007 - New Noise Standards for Construction and
Demolition Workers
June 2007 - Canada Reduces Workplace Noise
June 2007 - Farmers risk hearing loss
September 2007 -
Bars and nightclubs told: Cut the noise
September 2007 -
Hearing loss leads to farm accidents
October 2007 -
Council eyes another firefighter hazard: Hearing
loss
November 2007 -
Workers Sue Railroad for Hearing Loss
November 2007 -
Workers Sue Auto Maker for Hearing Loss
November 2007 -
Dog handler sues for hearing loss
March 2008 -
Is Siren Placement Responsible for Firefighters'
Hearing Loss?
May 2008 -
Missouri Firefighters Dismiss Their Hearing Loss
Claims
June 2008 -
Noise On The Farm Can Cause Hearing Loss
July 2008 -
Lawsuits Against Employers Over Hearing Loss Rising
Sharply
September 2008 -
Medical Journal Rebukes Researcher
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August
2006
THERE was
a time when loud sirens on emergency vehicles were generally considered a
good thing. But, in an age obsessed with risk assessment, it turns out
they can be too noisy. The vehicles used by Scots firefighters and police
officers have been given extra soundproofing after tests showed siren
noise could cause hearing damage to crews. Grampian Fire and Rescue has
spent £12,000 on sound-proofing its fire engines after health and safety
experts found unacceptable levels of noise inside the cabs.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January
2007
A
firefighter from North Arlington is among 400 in the state -- and nearly
5,000 nationwide -- who are suing a national siren manufacturer, alleging
that exposure to the device's noise left them with hearing damage . . . .
All are seeking damages from Federal Signal Corp., an Illinois-based siren
manufacturer, and four New Jersey companies that distribute municipal fire
equipment. DeJesus, a 25-year veteran of the Hoboken Fire Department,
claims the siren "emits intense noise at levels which, over time, are
capable of causing permanent injury to human hearing." Repeated
exposure to the sound damaged his hearing, he alleges. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February
2007
After
a decade of studying the farming population and analyzing the results of
audiometric and survey data, it is apparent, and not surprising, that
noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a very large part of the personal
lives of most farmers. Because of this, we suggest that annual hearing
tests should begin in rural farming communities at the age of 10 and be
mandated throughout the person´s life. In addition, hearing protection
must be made available to all those in the farming community, and
educational programs should motivate farmers to wear hearing protective
devices (HPDs) during exposure to all highintensity noises. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March
2007
What
continues to amaze me, however, is that although noise-induced hearing
loss is 100 percent preventable, it continues to be such a recurring
problem. Why are employees continuing to suffer hearing loss that directly
affects their safety, their work, and their quality of life? In general,
noise induced-hearing loss is not painful or obvious. Exposures to
hazardous noise levels can cause temporary and gradual hearing loss that,
with repeated exposure, becomes permanent. It is a silent killer (no pun
intended--well, maybe) of nerve cells in the cochlea inside the ear that
creates no pain, no visible signs of bleeding, and generally no
immediately obvious signs of loss. Hearing does not come back once it is
permanently damaged and gone. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2007
Hearing loss is the Rodney Dangerfield of workplace
hazards: It just doesn’t get any respect. Even after many years of OSHA-regulated
efforts to conserve hearing, and despite the ready availability of hearing
protection devices (HPDs), rates of noise-induced hearing loss continue to
rise. A recent National Health Interview Survey showed hearing problems
among individuals age 45 to 64 up 26 percent over the past 30 years. The
World Health Organization has called work-related noise-induced hearing
loss (NIHL), “the No. 1 hidden disability in North America,” and in
Washington, D.C., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
claims NIHL is the most common occupational illness in North America.
Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2007
Regardless of good faith efforts to control noise in
the workplace, the hearing protector often stands as the first, last, and
only line of defense against occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL).
ONIHL as an occupational illness is well understood and completely
preventable, but prevention requires a thorough understanding of the use
and limitations of hearing protection devices (HPD). Appropriate
application of HPD is critical if hearing loss is to be prevented in the
noisy workplace. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2007
Will doubling up or wearing dual protection - an
earmuff in addition to earplugs - provide added protection against extreme
noise levels? The answer is yes, according to a new Sound Source bulletin
recently released by the Bacou-Dalloz Hearing Safety Group, but perhaps
not as much as you thought. According to Witt, who is Audiology and
Regulatory Affairs Manager for the Hearing Safety Group, dual protection
is not required by OSHA regulations for general industry in the U.S., but
is required for mining operations governed by the Mine Safety & Health
Administration (MSHA) for noise exposures over 105 dBA (8-hour
time-weighted average). Similarly, NIOSH recommends dual protection for
any exposures over 100 dBA, and some companies require it for employees
with progressive noise-induced hearing loss despite normal protective
measures. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2007
In a letter addressed to OSHA Administrator Edwin
Foulke Jr., the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) urges the
agency to lower the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for occupational
noise from its current limit of 90 dBA to 85 dBA as an 8-hour
time-weighted average (TWA). In addition, the association petitioned
Foulke to adopt the 3 dB noise exchange rate, which represents the
increase in noise exposure that can be permitted if the duration of the
exposure is halved. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2007
When you come back from Canada Day weekend, your
workplace should be a little easier on your ears. That's when new
provincial legislation comes into effect cranking down maximum noise
levels in Ontario workplaces. The new standards were the focus of a seminar at an Industrial
Accident Prevention Association conference (IAPA) held in London
yesterday. Under the
new legislation, the average decibel level that a worker can be exposed to
over an eight-hour period will drop from 90 to 85. IAPA consultant
Martin Albinger said lowering the decibel level greatly improves long-term
protection for employees of noisy workplaces. "It
will have a huge impact . . . rather than taking 15 to 18 years to develop
a significant hearing loss, it will take more like 28 to 40 years." Albinger
said the decibel decline may seem small, but because decibel levels are on
a logarithmic scale, it represents a significant drop. Full
Story
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September 2007
Bars and nightclubs are being told to drop their
noise levels as health and safety inspectors plan a blitz targeting the
hospitality sector over the dangers of workplace racket. Officials from the
Department of Labour will call into bars and nightclubs for "informal chats"
with workers about noise-induced hearing loss as part of New Zealand Safety
Week, which starts today. "Our message to bars and nightclubs is pretty
simple - drop the volume," said Maarten Quivooy, the department's group
manager of workplace services. "We believe the dangers of noise are not as
well understood by those running, or working in, bars and nightclubs as they
are in other industries." The Health and Safety in Employment Act sets
maximum levels of noise. A spokesman said the department would work with
clubs and bars that exceed the accepted level of workplace noise, but those
resisting reductions in volume would face prosecution.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 2007
When the green machines get in the field, it's up to
the farmer to decide. And according to health experts, too many are not
wearing earplugs or muffs, causing permanent hearing loss and putting them
at greater risk for farm accidents. As producers take to the fields this
fall to chop silage and combine corn and soybeans, many will be doing it
from the comfort and quiet of a near sound-proof cabs. But as soon as they
step out of the hearing-safe sanctuary, they're often bombarded with noise
loud enough to eventually cause noise-induced hearing loss. That goes for a
myriad of other harvest and fall farm activities.
Full Story
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October 2007
As he prepared to testify in City Council yesterday,
Brian Mc- Bride, president of the Philadelphia Fire Fighters Union Local 22,
could hear ringing in his ears. It wasn't from one of the emergency
vehicles just then making its noisy way around City Hall. Rather, it was
from a long career as a firefighter coping with blaring sirens and
head-jarring fire equipment. McBride said he has suffered "significant
hearing loss" and the ringing is always there. He's not alone. According to
testing conducted on 1,100 firefighters by the union, more than half of them
have measurable hearing loss, he said. "Talk to any 20-year firefighter, and
you will find yourself repeating things because he simply cannot hear you,"
McBride said. Yesterday, Council's Public Safety Committee gave initial
approval to a bill introduced by Councilman Jack Kelly that would require
hearing protection for all firefighters operating or riding on fire
apparatus. McBride demonstrated a pair of earmuffs with radio communications
that cost $1,000. He estimated the city would need 480 pairs for the 60
engines, 30 ladders and 45 medic units.
Full Story
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November 2007
A St. Louis law firm has filed a Federal Employers'
Liability Act suit in St. Clair County against Alton and Southern Railway on
behalf of six workers who claim ear injuries due to excessive horn and
whistle noises. Attorney James E. Hopkins, Jr. of Bauer & Baebler filed on
behalf of James Fitzgerald, James Godfrey, Gary Maxwell, Timothy Porter,
Adam Beaston and Jeff Pratt, Sr. The complaint does not indicate where the
plaintiffs reside. They claim they suffered injuries to their inner ears,
nerve endings in the head, tympanic membranes, eardrums and the tissues of
the inner ears. They also claim tinnitus and psychological and emotional
harm. Full Story
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November 2007
NOISE levels at Ford's Transit factory in
Southampton were so bad that two workers need hearing aids ten years earlier
than they otherwise would have, a court heard. Hearing expert John Carruth
made the claim after testing Anthony Coffin, 52 and David Tarrant, 63, who
both worked at the plant in Swaythling. The evidence came on the second day
of a test case in which the two employees are suing the motor giant,
demanding the company pay for their state-of-the-art hearing aids. If they
are successful it could cost the motoring manufacturer up to £1m claims from
the Southampton factory's employees alone. It could also open the way for
thousands of other employees around the UK to take action against their
employers if they can prove their working conditions ruined their hearing.
Full Story
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November 2007
A garda dog handler is suing the State for alleged
hearing loss because of exposure to loud barking by dogs under his control.
Garda Thomas Donnelly has told the High Court that the dogs barked most of
the time during routine daily patrols in garda transit vans around the city.
Garda Donnelly said up to four dogs could be in the van with him at any one
time and would either continuously bark at each other or at anybody near the
van. He now wears hearing aids in both ears and since 2002 wears ear
protectors at all times while on duty.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2008
Safety experts were warning since 1981 that sirens
should be moved from atop the cabs of fire trucks to the front bumper to
preserve the hearing of firefighters, Margolis said. But Federal Signal
ignored that evidence and kept churning out cab-mounted sirens until their
first bumper model in 1989, he said. Nor did the company ever test what the
exposure was for firefighters who were less than 10 feet away from the
sirens, he said. "Because they didn't care what the exposure was for the
firefighters. Because they thought it was somebody else's job," Margolis
said. "They had no warnings --nada, nothing -- before 1987." But Beck argued
that Federal Signal was actually ahead of the industry and noted that the
National Fire Protection Association didn't start recommending
bumper-mounted sirens until 1992 -- three years after Federal Signal started
making them.
Full Story
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May 2008
Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE: FSS) announced
today that the Missouri firefighter plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their
hearing loss claims. The dismissal follows a string of successes for the
Company in the hearing loss litigation during 2008. Less than a month ago a
Cook County, Illinois jury absolved the Company of liability in a similar
suit brought by 27 Chicago firefighters. The jury deliberated for less than
two hours after a month long trial. The noted defense attorney, Philip Beck
of Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott, acted as lead counsel in the Cook
County trial. Earlier this year a New York judge granted the Company's
motion to dismiss all firefighter hearing loss claims in New York. Those
cases are currently on appeal.
Full Story
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July 2008
It's not unheard of for a plant worker to sue a
former employer alleging hearing loss. Gary Bezet, a senior partner at Kean
Miller, says his firm has worked on a handful of such cases over the past
few years. But he says in recent months there have been "mass filings" of
dozens of such suits, with more coming in. A single prominent local attorney
is representing more than 100. Defendants include BASF, Vulcan Materials,
Honeywell, Formosa Plastics, Rhodia and others.
Full Story
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September 2008
The Ear & Hearing journal has rebuked a Washington
University researcher for failing to disclose that he was working as a paid
expert for a siren manufacturer when he published a study saying
firefighters weren't at risk for job-related hearing loss. The journal
chastises William W. Clark, a hearing scientist at the university's medical
school in St. Louis, in a lengthy editorial note. Such rebukes are unusual
in medical journals but signal a growing concern with ensuring that
researchers fully disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
Full Story
