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TIPS
A
ccording to figures released by
Australian audiologist Dr Ross
Dineen, who has studied hearing
loss and tinnitus in the construction
industry extensively, construction
workers regularly experience noise
levels up to six times the legal exposure
limit and up to 75% are developing
tinnitus or permanent hearing loss as a
result of their job.
Dineen and his colleagues studied
noise exposure levels in construction
and analysed the way personal
protective equipment (PPE) and
protective approaches are used.
“We measured the real-time
exposure to noise and found the total
dose [of sound] over the working day
averaged over six times the legal
exposure limit. Based on hearing
tests as well as feedback from
family and friends we found that
over 75% of construction workers
were experiencing hearing and
communication problems,”
Dineen said.
Although the original study took
place some years ago, Dineen said
little has changed since his research
and that noise induced hearing loss
(NIHL) and tinnitus remain a serious
issue in construction.
“There’s nothing really being done
to address it,” he said.
Reluctance to wearing PPE is a
major cause of hearing loss in
construction, according to Dineen,
who said that hearing damage was
compounding because as damage
increases, so too does reluctance to
HEAR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW
Anyone who’s ever completed
an induction knows workers
should be wearing personal
protective equipment when
on site. But according to
audiologist
Ross Dineen,
rates of hearing damage are
still alarmingly high in the
construction industry.