1. Noise – What are the health risks?
Construction Noise & Hearing Loss Prevention
Noise – What are the health risks?
INSTRUCTOR NOTES: The Stand-Alone Exercises (individual PowerPoint slides) and the Cumulative Presentation (includes slides for all 4 lessons), can be used on their own or inserted into other training programs.
NOISE TRAINING EXERCISES FOR USE IN IN-CLASS FOR SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMS : Stand-Alone Exercise B-2(A)
Hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses in the U.S. Repeated exposure to high noise levels can lead to PERMANENT hearing loss. Because construction jobsites often expose workers to high levels of noise, you are at a much higher risk of developing hearing loss than workers in other industries.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), roughly half of construction workers have some job-related hearing problem. To put it in perspective, the average construction worker who is only 25 years old has the same hearing as a 50 year old who is not exposed to high noise levels at work.
Noise damages the nerves in the ears and it can also lead to tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, which often interferes with sleep and quality of life, and can cause high blood pressure and increased levels of stress.
Noise and hearing loss can also affect your ability to work safely on the job:
Hearing loss has been linked to THREE TIMES the risk of falling (the number one cause of deaths in construction)
If you have trouble hearing or there is too much noise, you may miss important instructions or warnings on the jobsite
And surrounding noise can distract you from performing your job safely
Once your hearing is gone, it’s gone forever.  
Exercise B-2 (A)