Occupational Hearing Loss Is Both Common and Preventable - Occupational Health and Safety

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Occupational Hearing Loss Is Both Common and Preventable

A new study notes that workers in the mining and oil and gas industries are more likely to have hearing loss as a result of improper protection.

  • Aug 30, 2019

A recent study published by the American Journal of Industrial Medicine is the first to examine hearing loss prevalence by industry within the Oil and Gas Extraction sector and most Mining sector industries. Researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that within these industries, 25 to 30 percent of workers, almost 1 in 3, had hearing loss.

“This study highlights the large proportions of workers with hearing loss and identifies the industries within these sectors that are most affected,” said Elizabeth Masterson, PhD, epidemiologist and co-author of the study. “Occupational hearing loss is entirely preventable and knowing which workers are at greatest risk can help better tailor strategies to protect their hearing.”

The study analyzed data from a wide array of individuals and sectors: 1.9 million noise-exposed workers across all industries, including 9,389 in Mining and 1,076 in Oil and Gas Extraction. Key findings include:

Mining Sector

  • 24% of workers exposed to noise had hearing loss.
  • The following industries showed the highest number of workers with hearing loss: Construction Sand and Gravel Mining (36%), Uranium-Radium-Vanadium Ore Mining (31%), Bituminous Coal and Lignite Surface Mining (28%), Iron Ore Mining (27%), and Nickel Ore Mining (24%).
  • Noise-exposed workers in Support Activities for Coal Mining and in Gold Ore Mining had double the risk and 71% higher risk of hearing loss, respectively, than noise-exposed workers in Couriers and Messengers, a low-prevalence comparison industry.



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