Key points
- The Hearing Loss Prevention Program provides national and world leadership to reduce the prevalence of occupational hearing loss due to exposure to hazardous noise and ototoxic substances (chemical, pharmaceutical, metals).
- Through research and surveillance, the Program develops best practices and interventions, including engineering noise controls and personal protective equipment.
Overview
To Learn More
The Hearing Loss Prevention Program works with the occupational safety and health community to reduce occupational hearing loss. NIOSH is the primary federal agency researching occupational hearing loss, including causes and strategies for prevention. Occupational noise and ototoxic exposures affect millions of workers in a wide range of industrial sectors. Effective control of these exposures is necessary for preventing occupational hearing loss. The Hearing Loss Prevention Program contributes research results, policy recommendations, technical information for occupational health professionals, and dissemination of practical information to the public.
Program priorities
The Hearing Loss Prevention Program has selected research priorities on the basis of burden, need, and impact and collaborated with other NIOSH research programs to write the research goals in the NIOSH Strategic Plan for FYs 2019-2026. Priority areas include (but are not limited to):
- Researching the evaluation and control of hazardous exposures
- Developing noise controls and ensuring effective hearing protector use
- Performing occupational hearing loss surveillance
- Providing scientific basis for policies and guidelines that will inform best practices for hearing loss prevention efforts
What we've accomplished
In 2022-2023, the Program:
- Published a special issue of Seminars in Hearing journal featuring the breadth of NIOSH occupational hearing loss prevention research and surveillance. The seven articles cover: the history and results of NIOSH efforts, overall and in Mining; estimation of U.S. workers' compensation claim costs; a review of the audiological evaluation of workers exposed to solvents; use of a fit-testing system to evaluate earplug performance; and evaluation of noise exposures at a hammer forge company, and also at a men's shelter.
- Developed a new NIOSH Noise and Occupational Hearing Loss website. It provides guidance for preventing occupational hearing loss from noise and ototoxic chemical exposures and is explained in an easy-to-read format.
- Published an article that showed the impact of including kurtosis when estimating occupational noise-induced hearing loss in a variety of industries.
- Developed the online event Wiki4WorldHearingDay2023 providing content on hearing and hearing loss-related services on relevant Wikipedia pages. Over 7.8 million Wikipedia views occurred over the 4-month tracking period.
What's ahead
In the future, the Program aims to:
- Publish a systematic review on the effectiveness of hearing protector fit-testing (i.e., increasing the level of noise attenuation achieved), with and without accompanying training.
- Publish a report on noise exposures in the landscaping industry.
- Publish on the prevalence and risk of hearing loss among noise-exposed workers in Construction.
- Contribute to the International Ototoxicity Management Group, which aims to improve management of those with hearing and/or balance difficulties after medical/occupational ototoxicant exposures.
- Contribute to production of motivational hearing loss prevention videos featuring noise-exposed workers, as part of NORA Hearing Loss Prevention Cross-Sector Council.
- Contribute to development of fit-testing guidance.
Resources
More information on specific workplace safety and health topics and useful resources can be found on the following pages:
- Noise and Occupational Hearing Loss
- Occupational Hearing Loss Surveillance and Statistics
- About Occupational Hearing Loss
- Mining Topic: Hearing Loss Prevention Overview
- Occupational Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
NORA Council
The Hearing Loss Prevention Cross-Sector Research Program helps lead the NORA Hearing Loss Prevention Cross-Sector Council, which brings together individuals and organizations to share information, form partnerships, and promote adoption and dissemination of solutions that work.