A recently released study reinforces the importance of periodically checking to make sure your crew members are wearing hearing protection when they could be exposed to high noise levels.
That’s because a significant number of U.S. employees don’t regularly use their hearing protection, according to researchers with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
The researchers analyzed data on 39,508 workers and discovered that 53% of those exposed to noise on the job said they don’t consistently wear hearing protection.
Some of the industries with high rates of nonusage, such as accommodation and food services (90% nonusage), health care and social assistance (83%), and education services (82%), aren’t typically associated with excessive noise levels.
However, there were also high nonusage rates in several industries with the potential for excessive noise levels, including agriculture, forestry and fishing (74%) and construction (52%).
(From the Oct. 18, 2021, issue of Safety Alert for Supervisors. To start your no obligation trial subscription to the publication right now, please click here.)
IOBP
Institute of Business Publications
Study: More than half of U.S. workers don’t use hearing protection
By iobp