Causes of Industrial Deafness
Causes of industrial deafness are usually linked to regular loud noise in the workplace, usually experienced over a long period of time, without adequate safety measures such as earplugs or earmuffs in place to protect the delicate structure of the ear.
Industrial deafness is one of the most common occupational diseases. A, almost half of all male miners have some level of industrial deafness by the time they reach 50. At 60, the number is 70%. Other occupations where employees are susceptible to the causes of industrial deafness include agriculture, construction, manufacturing, transportation and the military. Musicians are also susceptible to noise induced hearing loss.
Sufferers of industrial deafness will experience different types of hearing problems, depending on what caused the industrial deafness and how severe the problem is. Tinnitus, muffled hearing and trouble hearing high pitched noises are common side effects of industrial deafness.
What causes industrial deafness?
Causes of industrial deafness can include loud music in a nightclub or noisy machinery in an industrial environment. Military personnel sometimes experience industrial deafness because of loud explosions. I, in this case the causes of industrial deafness may be from one very loud noise rather than continuous noise over a long period of time.
Factories and building sites or other environments with here loud machinery such as power drills are can also be causes of industrial deafness, along with workplaces involved with loud transport such as aeroplanes or trains.
Effects of long term noise exposure
According to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), a hearing test can prove whether your deafness is caused by noise exposure as it will produce a characteristic pattern on a graph. Generally there will be a dip in your hearing at high frequency noises. This dip will increase if your exposure to these noise levels continues, and after long term exposure you will also have trouble hearing low frequency sounds as well. S your hearing gets worse, over time you may also have trouble hearing conversations of there’s background noise in the room, and later on conversations might be difficult to follow even in a quiet room.
How Employers can limit the causes of industrial deafness
In workplaces which are noisy by necessity, employers need to take practical steps wherever possible to work with employees against the causes of industrial deafness. Read our page on preventing industrial deafness to find out more.
The risk of being affected by known causes of industrial deafness in your workplace will depend on the level of noise and the amount of time you are exposed to it.
