Work-Related Hearing Loss

Work-related hearing loss continues to be a critical workplace safety and health issue. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the occupational safety and health community named hearing loss one of the 21 priority areas for research in the next century. Noise-induced hearing loss is 100 percent preventable but once acquired, hearing loss is permanent and irreversible. Therefore, prevention measures should be taken by employers and workers to ensure the protection of workers' hearing.

Magnitude

Approximately 30 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise on the job and an additional nine million are at risk for hearing loss from other agents such as solvents and metals.

Noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common occupational disease and the second most self-reported occupational illness or injury. Industry specific studies reveal:

• 44% of carpenters and 48% of plumbers reported that they had a perceived hearing loss.
  
• 49% of male, metal/nonmetal miners will have a hearing impairment by age 50 (vs. 9% of the general population) rising to 70% by age 60.

While any worker can be at risk for noise-induced hearing loss in the workplace, workers in many industries have higher exposures to dangerous levels of noise. Industries with high numbers of exposed workers include: agriculture; mining; construction; manufacturing and utilities; transportation; and military.

Costs

There is no national surveillance or injury reporting system for hearing loss. As such, comprehensive data on the economic impact of hearing loss are not available. The following localized examples provide an indication of the broader economic burden.

In Washington State, workers' compensation disability settlements for hearing-related conditions cost $4.8 million in 1991 (not including medical costs). When applied to the national workforce, occupational hearing loss costs an estimated $242.4 million per year in disability alone.

This figure does not include medical costs or personal costs which can include approximately $1500 for a hearing aid and around $300 per year for batteries. Moreover, workers' compensation data is an underestimate of the true frequency of occupational illness, representing only the tip of the iceberg.

In British Columbia, in the five-year period from 1994 to 1998, the workers' compensation board paid $18 million in permanent disability awards to 3,207 workers suffering hearing loss. An additional $36 million was paid out for hearing aids.

Through their hearing conservation program, the U.S. Army saved $504.3 million by reducing hearing loss among combat arms personnel between 1974 and 1994. The Department of Veterans Affairs saved $220.8 million and the Army an additional $149 million by reducing civilian hearing loss between 1987 and 1997.

Prevention

Removing hazardous noise from the workplace through engineering controls (e.g. installing a muffler or building an acoustic barrier) is the most effective way to prevent noise-induced hearing loss. Hearing protectors such as ear plugs and ear muffs should be used when it is not feasible to otherwise reduce noise to a safe level. NIOSH recommends hearing loss prevention programs for all workplaces with hazardous levels of noise. These programs should include noise assessments, engineering controls, audiometric monitoring of workers' hearing, appropriate use of hearing protectors, worker education, record keeping, and program evaluation.

For original NIOSH article, follow this Link

To check out the NIOSH noise meter, follow this Link (requires Flash)

Here for downloadable .exe file

ICE Issues Notices of Inspection to Employers

Following the 2008 elections, the federal government began to shift its policy on illegal immigration—instead of investigating and punishing undocumented workers, federal agencies began to focus on investigating and punishing employers that break the rules. In recent months there have been several developments in federal immigration policy.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently announced that it will audit the hiring records of 1,000 employers across the nation to determine compliance with employment eligibility verification laws. Audits involve a comprehensive review of Forms I-9, which employers are required to complete and retain for each employee.

Federal immigration law dictates that all employers are required to retain Forms I-9 for three years after the date employment begins or one year after the date of termination, whichever is later. Employers must be able to make Forms I-9 available for inspection if called upon by an officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or the U.S. Department of Labor. Failure to do so could result in the imposition of civil fines.

According to ICE, companies were selected for inspection as a result of investigative leads and because of their connection to public safety and national security. The companies' names and locations were not published by ICE because of the ongoing investigations.

In another immigration-related development, President Obama signed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010, which included a three-year extension of E-Verify, the federal government's electronic employment eligibility verification program, until Sept. 30, 2012. A proposal to make the program permanent and require its use by federal contractors was removed from the final law, but the Obama administration is enforcing an executive order that requires federal contractors to use E-Verify. The rule went into effect Sept. 8.

DHS recently unveiled a new "I E-Verify" campaign, which will allow consumers to know which companies are using E-Verify to maintain a legal work force.

"Verification is not just good business, it's the law," said ICE assistant secretary John Morton. "The main reason people enter the U.S. illegally is the opportunity to work. The public can and should choose to reward companies that follow the law and employ a legal work force."

Governor Rendell Announces Application for $5 Million Federal Recovery Act Grant to Train, Place Electric Power Sector Workforce

Harrisburg – Governor Edward G. Rendell today said the state has applied for a $5 million U.S. Department of Energy American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to provide training and placement services for approximately 1,215 Pennsylvanians seeking careers in the electricity industry.

"Modernizing our electrical grid and related technology is important to the economy, the environment and even our national security,” Governor Rendell said. “By developing the training and employment opportunities workers need to be successful in the electric power sector, we will connect employers with job seekers, improve our ability to deliver clean energy to urban centers and protect our valuable infrastructure from degradation or attack.”

If awarded, the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board, or PA WIB, will use the grant to enhance statewide training and placement efforts for Pennsylvanians in the electric power workforce. The Pennsylvania Center for Green Careers, an arm of the PA WIB, will develop a pipeline of workers who are needed to implement the national clean-energy smart grid. The project will serve the current workforce by providing advanced training as needed and prepare others to join the electric power sector workforce.

For more information about how Recovery Act funds are benefiting Pennsylvania, visit www.recovery.pa.gov.