Your ability to hear is a very important asset. Whether you work in engineering, administration, health or customer service, you will need to communicate to colleagues, bosses and customers every day. So it’s important that you protect your ears.
Keeping your hearing healthy is as important at home as it is at work. In fact, occupational deafness constitutes a sizable portion of cases of hearing impairment and deafness. Here are a few ways to prevent hearing loss at work:
1. Keep the volume down
Do you often have the volume of your phone or music at 100%? If it’s possible, try keeping the volume below 65%. You can make this change gradually or immediately if you’re not struggling. This reduces your exposure to unnecessary noise and will prevent you from getting tinnitus.
2. Minimize your exposure to noise
Earplugs are always a good idea if you work in a moderately noisy environment (such as a contact centre, for example.) For other work environments (such as construction sites), industrial-grade ear muffs are a must. It’s also a good idea to take regular breaks away from the noise if possible, or try to make sure that you have your meal breaks in a quiet area.
3. Ask for work support
Most work environments have work health and safety practices in place. Consult your work health and safety manager about any concerns with work equipment or work practices that are negatively impacting your hearing. They may be able to organize headsets that will be more suitable to you or modify current procedures to reduce noise.
4. Get regular hearing checks
Many workplaces now offer on-site hearing checks for employees. Check with your supervisor if this service is available to you. If not, you can also get hearing checks on your own. There are many hearing specialists such as Independent Hearing Solutions that can help you keep your ears healthy.
Our ability to do work can be negatively impacted by hearing loss. For high-volume contact centre workers, musicians and construction workers, hearing loss is an occupational hazard. It’s important that we protect our ears not only at home but also at work. Simple things like keeping the volume down, minimising noise exposure, and getting regular hearing checks can make a huge difference in maintaining healthy hearing.
