Many occupations require a worker to be in environments so noisy that the level of noise actually presents a threat to the worker’s health. If you are exposed to too much noise while at work, this exposure may cause a temporary change in your hearing, such as feeling that your ears are stuffed up or that there is ringing in your ears. These problems are short-term and stop anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours after leaving the noise. However, if you repeatedly expose your ears to high levels of noise, it can lead to permanent hearing loss and at an older age you may even need ear hearing aids to hear better.
Noise is a common cause of hearing loss in the United States, and up to twenty-five percent of the US’s work force is regularly exposed to potentially damaging levels of noise. Because of it can be hazardous to health, government standards have been enacted to protect workers from this occupational risk. However, these laws were not enacted until mid 1960′s. Subsequently, those individuals working in loud environments for their job before this date may suffer from hearing loss due to exposure at their workplace.
There are two rules to help a worker determine if the amount of noise they are being exposed to is dangerous. If you have to raise your voice to talk to someone who is only an arm’s length away or if your ears are ringing after you leave work, then you are being exposed to hazardous levels of noise which could result in incurable hearing loss.
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