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With an estimated 7.5 million adults in the UK suffering some form of hearing loss, it is concerning to learn that a new survey shows that over 60 per cent of people who visit their GP because they believe they many not ‘ hear as well as they used to’, are being referred to a specialist.
The consequences of exposure to extreme noise levels are not always clearly identified.
There can be no doubt that improved awareness, better information and fear over legal proceedings have been key to helping protect today’s workforce from the risk of hearing damage. Before the introduction of legislative frameworks such as the Control of Noise at Work Regulations, little attention was heeded by some employers to either limiting the cause of excessive noise levels or providing adequate protection against noise induced hearing loss.
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2006, clearly places the responsibility on employers to protect the hearing of their workforce by reducing exposure to noise, which reaches the statutory threshold commencing at 80db or 135dB peak and enforceable when rising to 85dB or 137dB peak.
Between 2009 and 2010, A Labour Force Survey estimated 21,000 people in the UK were suffering from hearing loss problems they thought were likely to be as a result of exposure to excessive noise levels at their workplace. The incidence of noise induced hearing loss caused by noisy working conditions is far from a resolved issue, even with greater employer and employee awareness of regulations stipulating the requirement of hearing protection.
