Mining is the No 1 industry for hearing loss

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) carried out a study on hearing loss in noise-exposed workers on the basis of nearly 1.5 million de-identified noise-exposed worker audiograms from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Occupational Hearing Loss Surveillance Project.

The study found that the No 1 industry in terms of hearing impairment among exposed workers was the mining sector, followed by construction. The manufacturing sector was third on the list, but proportionally accounted for the largest number of affected workers. The study covered data collected for a full decade and measured six hearing impairment levels and the impact on quality of life expressed as annual disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

The results of analysis of the sampled audiograms, including 78% for men and 22% for women, showed that 13% of noise-exposed workers had any impairment and 2% had moderate or worse impairment. In terms of sectors, DALYs per 1,000 workers were 3.45 in mining, 3.09 in construction, and 2.66 in manufacturing. Interestingly, the lowest level was found for the public safety sector at 1.30. The overall industry level was 2.53, highlighting the need for continued prevention efforts. A greater percentage of males had any hearing impairment (14%) compared to females (7%), consistent with other studies.

Source: Equipment World; US CDC