On April 25th, 2014 at Półwiejska construction site in Poznań a meeting was held on hearing loss. It was a part of a larger social campaign Don’t Lose Your Hearing at Work. The meeting included a press conference and a free of charge hearing examination.
Almost 200, 000 Polish employees are exposed to excessive noise. Noise is the most common harmful factor present in one’s working place. The threat of hearing impairment is the largest in the mining, construction and processing industry. The organizers of the All-Polish Hearing Protection Program aim at improving these statistics.
Decibels attack
Noise is present everywhere. We are exposed to noise at work, at school and on the streets. If you live in the city, you know noise is inevitable. In some situations we even consciously attack our ears with additional noise: on rock concerts or using portable mp3 devices. Most of us do not know how hazardous are such simple activities. Hearing is a sense easy to damage, but difficult to repair. Hence we should be cautious and take good care of our ears. Especially at work.
Noise is one of the main reasons of hearing deficiencies, one of the most common modern-age diseases. Three years ago the organizers of the All-Polish Hearing Protection Program launched the National Hearing Test, so far the largest Polish social campaign concerning hearing diseases prevention. According to their research 43% out of 40, 000 people who participated in the test have at least mild hearing problems. The statistics are alarming.
Many people who took part in the National Hearing Test complained about excessive noise at their working place and blamed it for hearing deficiencies. The All-Polish Hearing Protection Program is a campaign which addresses the need to improve social consciousness of the role of hearing in our lives, hearing protection and hearing loss prevention. The project aims at educating Polish employees and employers about the importance of healthy ears, how easy it is to damage hearing and simple ways to protect it.
Prevention is better than treatment
- Our hearing worsens with age. Regular ear controls makes it easier to discover deficiencies on time and find good solutions.
- Prevention is most important. If you use headphones, remember that their usage is harmful especially if you do not respect noise limitations. Already after few minutes of listening to loud music one may experience ringing in the ears. The same happens if you go to concerts or noisy events in clubs and discos
- If we do not have any influence on noise exposure (for example at work) the only way to protect your ears may be special professional earplugs, individually made, simple and comfortable. They enable communication among workers and at the same time hearing machines and alarm signals. They are also more economic than standard disposable stoppers.