Men's hearing: more prone to hearing damage on the job.

• Author: Sergeant, Deborah Jeanne
• Position: HEALTH & MEDICINE

The Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) reports that 30 million people nationwide are exposed to hazardous noise on the job annually. Anyone can experience heating loss; however, men suffer higher rates than women. Lisa Owens, a doctorate in audiology, directs Alaska Speech and Hearing Clinic in Anchorage and stated there is no anatomical difference between the genders' ears.

Availability of exposure causes the disparity between their rates of heating loss. Many traditionally male occupations involve ear-damaging environments or tasks.

OCCUPATIONAL NOISE

Power equipment and heavy machinery are top contributors to occupational noise. Men's reluctance to wear hearing protection or visit an audiologist to learn about how to protect their heating also play a role.

Many instances of heating loss take decades to manifest at perceptible levels, which can lull men into thinking they are not damaging their hearing. Of course, OSHA standards require you to protect your employees' heating. Alaska Administrative Code, Occupational Health and Environmental Control 04.0104 gives specific directions on Noise Exposure and Hearing Conservation Programs, for which no business is exempt because of small size. Scott Ketcham, director of OSHA's Anchorage Area Office, said, "Any employer who has employees is responsible to meet that requirement."

In general, a business that exposes employees to sounds 85 decibels (dB) or higher for eight hours or more must have a Heating Conservation Program, which includes providing free hearing protection, education and training. A safety technician uses electronic equipment to measure the time-weighted average for a shift.

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"It is conceivable that a blast of noise is loud enough you could overexpose employees and have a quiet remaining shift," Ketcham said.

For many people unaccustomed to safety protocols, the regulations can be confusing as to what constitutes unsafe noise. For example, a janitor may seem to have a low occupational risk.

"They run vacuums and those can cause hearing loss if they're running them all day long," said Donna Demarco, hearing instrument specialist and owner of Accurate Hearing in Anchorage.

Different models of the same equipment create different levels of noise. For louder workplace noises, just one exposure can damage hearing.

"With carpenters, if you hit the nail on the head right, you can damage hearing," Demarco said. "It only takes once."

RISKY PERCEPTIONS

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