Hearing loss is an easily preventable consequence of not wearing proper hearing protection on the job.
By Dennis Capizzi
Mar 01, 2021
Millions and millions of employees show up, do their job, clock out and go home day after day, month after month, year after year. However, for some 22 million people, this workday routine harbors a hidden danger: potential for permanent hearing loss from exposure to loud noise in the workplace.
Yet, according to every major regulatory and protection agency from OSHA to the World Health Organization (WHO) to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), workplace hearing loss is 100 percent preventable.
Why, then, are U.S. businesses paying more than $1.5 million annually in penalties for improper implementation or non-compliance with OSHA’s hearing conservation program? Perhaps it is because when it comes to loud and harmful noise in the workplace, people understand the need for hearing protection devices (HPDs), yet are unaware of what goes into selecting proper HPDs.