Julie Raney is a certified and licensed audiologist. She has a B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a Master’s Degree in Audiology from Idaho State University. She has worked as a clinical audiologist in Colorado since 2005. She specializes in hearing amplification for adults and delivers her services in both English and Sign Language.

Occupational Hearing Hazards

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that hearing loss is the third most common chronic condition for adults in the US. Commonly thought of as a condition that only affects older Americans, noise exposure can cause hearing loss at any age. The National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) reports based on a recent study that at least 10 million (6 percent) of adults in the U.S. under age 70—and perhaps as many as 40 million adults (24 percent)—may have NIHL based on evidence of noise notches in their hearing test results.

“We also found that 19 percent of young adults aged 20 to 29 had either unilateral or bilateral audiometric notches, with 4 percent having noise notches in both ears,” explains Howard J. Hoffman, M.A., a coauthor on the paper and director of the NIDCD’s Epidemiology and Statistics Program. “This finding reinforces the fact that young people also need to be aware of the risk of hearing loss from loud noise.

Shift Work and Hearing Loss

Part of the reason that hearing loss is so prevalent at work stems from the long hours people are exposed to during a work shift. The standard work shift is 8 hours a day, five days a week, however, due to overtime, many work well over this limit. Noise-induced hearing loss occurs when noise limits exceed a safe listening level of 85 decibels (dB). However, it is not just the level but the length of exposure. It takes 8 hours of constant exposure for damage to occur at 85dB, ironically the same length as the average work shift. The higher the decibel level the less time it takes for hearing loss to occur so it’s important to know the decibel level in your places of work.

A 2019 study examined the connection between shift workers and the prevalence of hearing loss. The study including over 11,000 shift workers, as expected, showed that participants who worked the most amounts of shifts also had the highest risk of hearing loss.

Professions with the Highest Risk of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

Noise-induced hearing loss is a cumulative condition, often starting so subtly that many don’t even realize they’ve lost quite sounds such as the wind in the trees or birds chirping. It’s not until someone else points out a sound that they can’t hear that they may begin to suspect that they have an issue. Even so, it often takes people 7 to 10 years from the time they suspect they have a loss to schedule a hearing test.

If you work in a particularly loud profession, it is important to screen regularly for hearing loss. Unaddressed, hearing loss can quickly interfere in the workplace, comprising their and co-workers’ safety and impeding the ability to hear and follow instructions. Over time this leads to underemployment, loss of promotions, and job opportunities as well as chronic depression, anxiety, social isolation, and cognitive decline, increasing the risk for dementia later in life.

If you work in any of the following professions, be sure to screen for hearing loss often. The most common include:

Construction
Manufacturing
Mining
Farming
Landscaping
Law enforcement

Protect Your Hearing

While these are the most common professions in which noise can damage hearing, it is important to be aware of the decibel level in your place of work as well as at home and during recreation and wear hearing protection methodically. If you suspect that you have been exposed to noise at work that has damaged your hearing, make an appointment with us to test your hearing today. We can get to the bottom of your hearing issues and make sure to find the best solution for your hearing and you.