Do You Know the Noise Levels in Your Workplace?

Deanna Lennox • October 1, 2021

Are Disposable Earplugs Really Effective? 

Man wearing

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that every year, 22 million workers are exposed to potentially harmful noise at work. Hearing loss can be avoided whether you work in a sports stadium, on the tarmac, or with a jackhammer.

Noise levels may exceed 85 decibels if you need to raise your voice to speak to someone 3 feet away. To assess the noise levels in a workspace, a variety of sound-measuring equipment is available. Sound level meters, noise dosimeters, and octave band analyzers are a few examples:

Noise could be a problem in your workplace if you: 
  • Hear ringing or humming in your ears when you are leaving work.
  • Must yell to be heard by a coworker who is an arm's length away. 
  • Experience temporary hearing loss when you leave work.

The Sound Level Meter App from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is an application that can be downloaded on mobile iOS devices to measure sound levels in the workplace and offer noise exposure parameters to help decrease occupational noise-induced hearing loss.
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