by Brianna Crandall — January 6, 2016—The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently released a safety and health publication dealing with preventing hazardous noise and hearing loss.
“Preventing Hazardous Noise and Hearing Loss during Project Design and Operation” explains that “Prevention through Design (PtD) can be defined as designing out or eliminating safety and health hazards associated with processes, structures, equipment, tools or work organization.”
NIOSH launched a PtD initiative in 2007 with the goal of reducing or preventing “occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities by considering hazard prevention in the design, re-design, and retrofit of new and existing workplaces, tools, equipment, and work processes.”
The publication continues: “Integrating PtD concepts into business processes helps reduce injury and illness in the workplace, as well as costs associated with injuries. PtD lays the foundation for a sustainable culture of safety with lower workers’ compensation expenses, fewer retrofits, and improved productivity. When PtD concepts are introduced early in the design process, resources can be allocated more efficiently.”
In the publication, NIOSH names the health and safety problems that can result from prolonged exposure to high noise levels, and estimates that 22 million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise each year.
The publication provides exposure limits along with guidelines and recommendations on protecting workers from hearing loss, as well as case studies with specific examples.
