The noise as an occupational hazard

Written by Opris Zsolt, Szász Loránd, Köllő Erzsébet, Szász Zsuzsánna

Objective: A study of the impact of industrial noise for the exposed workers. Materials and method: The groups we have studied involved a total of 952 workers from wood and furniture industry from November 2003 to November 2004. We monitored the working environment concerning noise and its effects upon the hearing system. We used audiometric tests for all the workers in the group. We made psychological investigations referring to the noise effects against the whole body on a group of workers from the energetic indusrty comparatively with a witness group. Results: Calculating the relative and assigned risk, statistics revealed the probability of occupational deafness. Psychological investigations revealed several symptoms for the noise exposed workers: visual tiredness, shank muscular pain, sleeping disorders, tiredness in the morning. Conclusions: 1. Noise exposure for more than 10 years over the maximum approved values bring on partial and absolute occupational deafness. 2. These changes depend on the age and duration of the exposure as well as the intensity of the weekly exposure level. 3. The conclusions referring to the effect on the whole body revealed the fact that noise exposure decreases the efficiency and increases the tiredness level. Studying the accuracy tests, we found poor results revealing chronic tiredness.


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