Hardwood Floors April May 2018

S P O N S O R E D C O N T E N T

PROTECTING YOUR HEARING

is that, because you don’t feel it happening, hearing damage can occur slowly over time without you ever being aware of it until it’s too late. So the question now is: when should you wear hearing protection? A general rule of thumb is to wear hearing protection for any noise that’s louder than 85 decibels. To give you an idea of how loud that is, remember, if you have to speak loudly or shout to someone three feet away from you for them to understand you, it’s too loud. Think about the last time you were around a big machine or edger and tried to hold a conversation with someone in the room. You probably had to talk loudly or even shout to be heard. Both of these machines create hazardous noise over 85 decibels. In fact, big machines can sometimes get to 97 decibels. At that sound pressure level, NIOSH’s permissible exposure time is 30 minutes, meaning, if you’re exposed for longer than that, there’s a risk of NIHL and hearing protection is recommended. And, as you know, edgers are even louder, which means you’ll need hearing protection even sooner. Don’t assume impulse noises, such as a pneumatic nailer, or short exposures, such as a quick cut on a chop saw, aren’t harmful, though. As you have probably guessed by now,

Hearing protection in the wood flooring industry is often overlooked due to a variety of reasons, but it really shouldn’t be. Hearing loss due to loud noises (Noise Induced Hearing Loss – NIHL) is one of the most common work-related illnesses. Did you know that, according to NIOSH, almost 20% of noise-exposed workers have a material hearing impairment, which is defined as hearing loss that impacts day-to-day activities? Also, about 8% of all workers have tinnitus, which is described as a permanent loud ringing or buzzing in the ears usually due to exposure to loud noises, and depending on the severity of it, can be debilitating and affect a person’s way of life. The good news is, hearing loss is 100% preventable. So why don’t people make more of an effort to protect and save their hearing? It’s because unlike other injuries, it’s hard to imagine our hearing becoming “injured.” In fact, some people believe that the only time they need hearing protection is when a noise is painful to listen to. The truth of the matter is, hearing damage can occur when exposed to sounds of much less intensity with no discomfort at all. The scary part

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