1. A primer on ear care and hearing loss prevention Occupational Noise Exposure 29 CFR 1910.95 Presented by Larry Sailer Can You Hear Me Now?

2. HEARING SAFETY Purpose: In today’s program you’ll learn about your auditory system and how important it is to preserve your hearing through good safety practices.

3. Objectives: 1. Know how the ear and our system of hearing are constructed and how it works. 2. Understand the potential affects of hearing damage. 3. Recognize the most common types of hearing damage. 4. Have a good knowledge of the common causes of hearing injury loss. 5. Know what good hearing safety practices are. 6. Know how to select and use basic personal protective equipment.

4. PROTECT YOUR HEARING  You may be experiencing noise-induced hearing loss if you have ringing in your ears, headaches or irritability. If you have to turn your vehicle radio up after work and the next morning it’s much to loud, it means that your hearing level has declined temporarily. If this happens, the loss will eventually become permanent. TRUE / FALSE

5. PROTECT YOUR HEARING  Your body will replace damaged hearing cells once you reduce noise exposure by wearing hearing protection. TRUE / FALSE

6. Hearing Program  Action Level - “85 dBA”  Hearing Protection Requirements “90 dBA”  Standard Threshold Shift

7. The Human Ear

8. HEARING LOSS  Occurs in the inner ear  Bounce Back  Permanently damaged

9. WARNING SIGNS  Difficulty hearing “Ss” and “Ts”  Difficulty separating speech from background noise  Complaints that your talking to loudly  Turning up volumes  Difficulty hearing high-frequency sounds  Difficulty hearing soft sounds  Ringing in the ears “tinnitus”

10. Permissible Noise Exposure  8 hours ………… 90 dBA  6 hours ………… 92 dBA  4 hours ………… 95 dBA  3 hours ………… 97 dBA  2 hours ………… 100 dBA  1 1/2 hours …….. 102 dBA  1 hour ………….. 105 dBA  1/2 hour ………… 110 dBA  1/4 hour or less … 115 dBA

11. ACCEPTABLE LEVELS  So what is considered an “acceptable noise exposure”  70 – 85 dB range

12. Sound Level Survey  Sound Level Meter  Dosimeter

13. Noise Level Controls  Administrative Controls  Engineering Controls  Personal Protective Equipment

14. Personal Protective Equipment  Ear Plugs  Canal Caps  Ear Muffs

15. SELECTING HEARING PROTECTION  Noise reduction rating.  Comfort and fit.  Practicality in your work environment.

16. Ear Plugs ( disposable) If you do prefer earplugs for your protection, be sure to take these steps to get their full benefit:  In a noisy environment, keep your plugs in place.  Always follow the guidelines from the manufacture.  Keep the earplugs well maintained with some basic upkeep.  The only “care” required for disposable plugs are that you throw them away.

17. Ear Plugs (reusable)  Inspect reusable plugs for torn flanges or other signs of wear.  Keep reusable plugs clean to avoid infection and to ensure a proper fit.  Ear plugs can be bothersome.

18. Canal Caps  Canal caps, sometimes called pods, consist of two earplugs held in place by a rigid band.  Easy to remove when sounds decrease  Offer less protection than muffs or individual plugs.  Know your noise decibels and protection attenuation.

19. Ear Muffs  Provide an acoustic seal  Needs proper headband tension  Needs visual inspection

20. Hearing Test  The first test establishes a starting point, or “baseline”, of your hearing.  Annual Audiograms  Remember that the goal of OSHA’s noise exposure standard is to preserve your ability to hear human speech.

21. An Audiogram  If a 10-decibel reduction in your ability to hear is detected at the 2,000, 3,000 or 4,000 Hertz frequencies, you will be notified.  This kind of hearing change is known as a “Standard Threshold Shift”. It means that a sound has to be 10 decibels louder for you to hear it than was necessary in previous years.  If the test shows you have experienced this kind of hearing loss, you may be ask to take the test again.

22. Hearing Health Tips Noise can damage hearing when it averages 90 decibels or more for an eight-hour period.  Be particularly aware of: High frequency sounds. Loud sounds. Duration you are exposed to harmful sound.

23. Take Care  Your life would not be the same without the ability to hear.  Hearing is irreplaceable. Do everything you can to preserve it … before it’s to late.