Workers of the hospital maintenance sector: protection, hearing symptoms and noise exposure

ABSTRACT Purpose: to investigate the use of hearing protection and symptoms in hospital maintenance workers and evaluate the noise level of the machines. Methods: a cross-sectional quantitative study held with workers from a public hospital maintenance service. A questionnaire related to personal, clinical and occupational history was used. Measurement of the noise level of the machines in the sector was carried out using a sound pressure level meter. Results: 57 male workers participated, mean age of 43.28 years, among the workers, carpentry prevailed (10.53%), length of time at the job averaged 8.9 years and 9.3 daily work hours; 45.76% did not know what could be done to reduce maintenance noise; 59.65% wore hearing protectors at work, ear plug model (47.37%), and 82.45% thought that the noise was reduced when they wore the hearing protector correctly. Auditory and non-auditory signs and symptoms were denied by most workers. Noise perception in the maintenance service was medium (53%) and high (44%), evidenced noise levels of 62.0 to 101dB (A). Conclusion: the hearing protector was worn by 59.7% of the workers, the plug model was the most used (47.4%) and 75.8% reported that occupational noise decreased with the use of hearing protectors. Most workers use hearing protection and have no hearing symptoms. However, the presence of symptoms such as otalgia (8.8%), otorrhea (5.3%), dizziness (14.0%), tinnitus (17.5%) and difficulty in speech comprehension (7, 0%) should be pointed out. Noise assessment showed high levels from some maintenance machinery, representing a risk for hearing. The sectors of the woodwork and metalwork were the noisiest.

Noise perception and hearing protector use in metallurgical industries

Although hearing protectors are defined as a temporary solution, they are often widely employed as the only measure against noise exposure. However, it is also known that unless workers wear the hearing protector continuously, their effectiveness will be very low. In this regard, there are some surveys that show that workers do not always wear their protectors properly and consistently while exposed to noise. The purpose of this article is to present the results of an investigation about noise perception, relating with noise exposure in working environment and the hearing protectors’ use. Was consider that noise perceptions effects can support minimizing risk and improve industries safety polities. The study sample was carry out in 5 metallurgical industries and 243 workers from Parana – Brazil. The survey data was collected and analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The questionnaire results showed that workers are exposed at high noise levels, in increasing risk of developing noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). About the hearing protection use, it can be evaluated that the use is more effective in companies with a higher level of noise exposure. The perception of risk plays a fundamental role, which predicts the use of hearing protectors; therefore, the perception of the work environment, regarding the lower or higher risk, can be directly linked to the use of hearing protectors. The companies with more rigorous safety procedures also indicate a greater report of effective use of hearing protectors.