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TECHNICAL TRAINING

Hearing Conservation By Brad Goettsch, Manager Rail Grinding

Hearing is one of our most important senses — it allows us to communicate, to learn, and to enjoy things like music and conver-
sation. However, many people don't realize that they may be exposing their ears to a huge amount of potentially damaging noise
daily. It's important to protect your hearing from noise and other damaging factors.
Frequent or prolonged exposure to loud noises is one of the most common causes of hearing loss, even though this type of hear-
ing loss is completely preventable. Our brain registers sound thanks to a spiral-shaped organ in the inner ear which is covered in
thousands of tiny hairs that register sound vibrations and turn them into electrical impulses to be processed by the brain.

When your ears are exposed to loud noises, these tiny hairs can become damaged, resulting in hearing loss. Although short, in-
tense noises like fireworks or a gunshot are sometimes the cause, the most common cause is regular exposure to excessive noise
such as listening to music too loudly or working in a noisy environment. It's important to realize that once this type of hearing
damage occurs, it cannot be reversed. Therefore, it is very important to take measures to protect your hearing before it's too
late.

A large part of protecting your hearing is learning to recognize potentially
dangerous noise levels. Then you will have a better idea of what to avoid.
Prolonged exposure to noise levels above 85 decibels is considered to be
damaging to your hearing. To give you an idea of where 85 decibels lies on
the scale:

Normal conversation: 60 to 65 dB
Motorcycle or lawnmower: 85 to 95 dB
Music at a nightclub: 110 dB
MP3 player at maximum volume: 112 dB
Ambulance siren: 120 dB

Taking measures to reduce noise levels by just a few decibels can be hugely beneficial for your ears. This is due to the fact that
every 3 dB increase in the noise level effectively doubles the amount of sound energy being released. As a result, the amount of
time you can safely spend listening to a certain sound rapidly decreases the louder the sound is. For example, you can safely spend
up to eight hours listening to an 85 dB sound, but you should only spend 15 minutes exposed to noise levels above 100 dbs.

If you can't hold a conversation with someone who is standing two meters away from you without shouting, the
noise level is damaging to your ears.

Protect your hearing at work.

LORAM OPERATING RULEBOOK—Personal Protective Equipment

7.1 LORAM provides basic Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including hard hats, goggles, respirators, and hearing protection.

Hearing protection must provide a noise reduction rating sufficient enough to reduce the noise exposure to the levels referenced
in the Hearing Conservation Policy.

When working in areas where hearing protection may be required, have approved hearing protection devices on your person and
wear them where required.

Earplugs must be worn when welding or operating a cutting torch overhead or out of position.
Hearing protection can either be hardhat mounted earmuff style or foam plug style.

OCTOBER 2020
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