What Safety Laws or Regulations Are in Place to Protect Your Hearing?

A high percentage of accepted claims for deafness in Australia is employees in the manufacturing industry (35%) and 18% in the construction industry. The deafness was caused by prolonged exposure to sound arising in the workplace and no ear protection equipment.

The noise-induced hearing loss can’t be fixed, and it gets worse as the noise exposure continues. Some chemicals also cause hearing loss. When an employee is exposed to both noise and the chemical, there is a very high likelihood that they will experience hearing loss.

Due to these hearing losses occurring at work, safety laws and regulations are set to protect your hearing. According to Work Health and Safety regulations, a business must:

• Ensure that the noise that a team member is exposed to doesn’t exceed the noise exposure standard.
• It must provide a hearing test for any team member who requires to use hearing protectors to protect their hearing.

Manufacturers of plants must ensure that their plants produce as little noise as possible. They must provide information about noise emission values, operating conditions used to measure noise emissions, and how the noise emissions are measured.

Work Health and Safety regulations require the duty holders to control the level of noise in their premises. There are steps to ensure it is done, such as:
- Eliminate the noise. Can it be eliminated and restored with a quiet one if it is a noisy generator or equipment?
- If the noise can’t be eliminated, can the noisy parts be replaced to reduce the noise?

Other ways can be used to control noise and reduce the risk of hearing loss with employees, such as:
- Modifying the source of the noise. You can create barriers around the noisy machine.
- Use the noisy machine when they are no people, or a few employees are around.
- Provide personal hearing protectors such as earmuffs and earplugs.

Work Health and Safety regulations also require that audiometric tests be provided within three months of a team member starting to work in areas that expose them to noise and risk of work-related noise-induced hearing loss. Regular follow-up tests must be carried out at least every two years.

All hearing protective wear must be tested and approved in accordance with Australian standards. They should also be selected and maintained to the same standards.

If you’re looking for earplugs to prevent noise-induced hearing loss, Attune provides custom earplugs that will suit your ears perfectly. We also offer quality hearing tests. Visit our website or contact us for more information.