What activities or jobs produce intense noise?
Included in the list are
- Construction workers.
- Musicians, DJs, sound equipment and nightclub waiters.
- Couriers and motorized delivery men.
- Kindergarten teachers.
- Hairdressers.
Working in a noisy environment for a long time increases the risk of hearing difficulties as well as tinnitus, an independent study in Britain shows, among 12,907 British men and women from 34 medical practices and the armed forces.
In the group of men who had worked in a noisy place for more than 10 years, serious hearing problems were 4 times higher than among subjects who had never worked in a noisy environment. Women who had been exposed to noise at work for more than 10 years were 3 times more likely to have hearing problems than women in jobs without noise.
Men are more likely to develop hearing loss due to noise than women according to studies conducted in 2009 in the United States. Married Caucasian men in particular are at greatest risk.
More men than women do noisy jobs
These results obtained are related to the fact that there are more men than women who have been exposed for a very long period to excessive noise levels in their jobs. Compared to just 3% of women who had been exposed to loud noise in their work environment, compared to 16% of men.
Tinnitus is also directly related to noise exposure at work. The results revealed that about 14% of men experienced this condition, hearing internal ringing or buzzing in the ear while men who were not affected by noise in their work environment had this condition 3 times less. In women with only being exposed to these noises from 1 to 5 years, the incidence of tinnitus was almost 3 times higher.
According to the study, just 1 year is enough for the risk of hearing loss and/or tinnitus to increase exponentially among workers exposed to loud noise levels at work. If exposure to these noises reaches 5 years, the chances of losing hearing or suffering from tinnitus triples compared to people with jobs with low noise.
As a solution to the problem of exposure to excessive noise in the workplace, the ideal is to use hearing protectors.
At Auditec we work with one of the best manufacturers of hearing protectors nationwide. We offer high-quality, professional hearing protection products, whether in industry workplaces or for professional musicians, shooting, swimming, or traveling.
