Hearing

Our hearing needs protecting or it will be lost forever.

Noise is part of everyday life, however loud noise can permanently damage our hearing. Conversation becomes difficult and sometimes impossible, family and friends complain about the television being too loud, and the ringing telephone is sometimes not heard and a tendency to turn the head to use the 'good ear' hides the issue. Difficulty with hearing words containing sounds like 't’,d' and 's' become confused and difficult to understand.

Permanent tinnitus (a constant ringing, whistling, buzzing type sound in the ears) can also be caused by loud noise and is usually the first sign of damage to hearing. The damage can be instant, caused by very loud or explosive instantaneous type noise but generally the hearing loss caused by excessive noise is a gradual process. This gradual process happens because the prolonged exposure to loud noise is combined with hearing loss due to ageing and probably it is not noticed until the hearing is damaged beyond repair and then it is too late. Over 170,000 people in the UK suffer deafness, tinnitus or other ear conditions as a result of exposure to excessive noise at work.

Risk

It is a misconception that a little bit of noise is alright and will not cause any damage to hearing however, if a conversation with someone about 2 metres away can only be carried out by raising voices, or if working in construction, demolition/road repair, woodworking, engineering, or frequently using musical instruments or sound engineering equipment, then exposure to excessive noise is probable.

If hearing is muffled at the end of the day, after attending an event, music performance, sound engineering, playing music for enjoyment or listening to music on a personal device i.e. iPod, Mp3 player etc., even if hearing is better the next morning, the risk of damage to hearing is significant. People often experience temporary deafness after leaving a noisy place and, although hearing recovers after a few hours, this should not be ignored as it indicates that continued exposure to loud noise could permanently damage hearing.

What can you do?

Hearing is important in all aspects of life so protecting it must be a priority. A number of simple measures at home and at College can assist in keeping this vital sense effective.

• Turn down the volume on the TV, Music and Radio at home
• Rest your ears with quiet periods each day
• Avoid prolonged use of earpieces with iPods, MP3s etc.

All students must:

• Co-operate with the College to do what is needed to protect your hearing
• Observe the Mandatory Protection signs
• Wear any hearing protection provided the way you have been correctly shown
• Look after the hearing protection
• Report any problem with the hearing protection straight away

By following sensible precautions, at work, as well as away from work, you will be protecting your hearing as much as possible and the risk of permanent damage will be reduced.