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Show r 14 Hilltop Times May 28, 1992 0i J Warning sounds 1st Lt. Robert L Eppens, an audiolo-gis- t at Hill AFB's audiology clinic, puts headsets on Louis Woodall for a hearing test. Woodall, a Technology ISSSIilllll " and Industrial Support Directorate carpenter, has his hearing checked every year because of the noises he's exposed to each day. Eppens and his staff do more than 4,000 hearing tests each year for Hill workers and family members. Photo by George Whetton Air Force asks all workers to listen up by Kathleen Keane Air Force News Service An Air Force hearing specialist in Texas believes he could get rich by collecting small change. "If I had a dime for every time I was addressed with 'I can hear you talking to me, I just can't understand what you're saying,' I'd be doing pretty well," said Maj. David Wirth, chief of the Hearing Conservation Data Registry for the Occupational and Environmental Health Directorate at Brooks AFB in San Antonio. Wirth, an audiologist, specializes in preventing, identifying and assessing hearing impairment. "Noise-induce- d hearing loss is referred to as an d insidious process. Whether or a result of leisure activity, it's cumulative. You don't notice a difference until it starts affecting you," he said. d "And a loss of hearing is permanent; there's no regeneration." To combat this potential problem, the Air Force is committed to the issue of hearing conservation. The key, Wirth says, is education. "Just because a person's occupation is in an industrial environment, such as a sheet-metfabrication work area or roads and grounds crew, doesn't mean he will experience hearing loss," Wirth said. Work areas that are occupationally hazardous to the ears have been identified by base-leve- l engineering specialists throughout the Air Force, he said. For a work area to be considered occupationally hazardous, a dosimetery study, or noise level readout, is taken, and must be at or above an 85 d decibel (A) average for the duration of an eight-hou- r The Air Force recognizes duty day. 85 dB(A) as the point where an individual is exposed to hazardous noise. Once this is proven, the worksite is placed on the Air Force's Hearing Conservation Program. At present, an estimated 190,000 Air Force people are on the program. "From there, personnel in each hazardous noise shop are given a baseline audiogram, which measures their hearing ability," he said. "From then on, personnel are monitored annually as long as they remain in a shop designated as noise hazardous.'1 Personnel are also provided proper personal protection equipment, which includes earplugs and ear muffs or communication headsets. "If a person always wears his protection, and the job-relate- noise-induce- al bioen-vironment- time-weighte- al protection is in excellent condition and fitted properly, he could expect little or no change in hearing," Wirth said. "And any changes that would occur, would most likely be a result of the normal aging process, keeping in mind that susceptibility to hearing loss varies dramatically from person to person." But people don't always pay attention to the importance of protection. Wirth offers three common reasons for this. "First, for any number of reasons, there are some individuals reluctant to wear the proper protection," he said. "Second, some people who wear the proper protection wear it incorrectly. That's why it's so important to see a professional when get- ting protective equip- ball game is usually exposed to two or three hours of very loud noise, Wirth said. Likewise are the patrons who go to dance clubs. Many of these people leave with their ears ringing, a stuffiness in their head, and hear muffled speech. All of these symptoms suggest they were exposed to hazardous noise. Although these temporary changes would be considered incidental and not a "serious factor if people engage in these activities a lot without any hearing protection, it presents a problem. Although there is a fundamental difference be- tween occupational and incidental hazardous 66 Americans have it in their minds ment; not only can they choose the proper one for that louder is better: The louder we are, the more behind our team we can also show the correct way to wear it. "Finally, people often determine 'this one time won't hurt' if I don't wear it." are; the louder the music, the the individual, but they Non-occupation- al better it sounds. 99 Maj. David Wirth ex- posures, such as going out to a dance club, can " Association in Speech-Language-Heari- Rock-vill- e, Md. "When people work all day with hearing protection, then go home and run the lawnmower for an they extend their occupational exposure," Wirth said. "Therefore, people need to take their activities (also identified as incidental hazardous noise) into consideration." That theory applies not only to people who work in occupationally hazardous noise areas, but to all hour-and-a-hal- f, off-dut- y people whose chores and hobbies involve loud hazards. machinery and other For example, a person who goes to a professional noise-producin- g the same thing with portable cassette Dlav- ers, capable of an output of 115 decibels (A), which is slightly above a rock concert, and just below a jet plane takeoff Because listeners can keep the noise to themselves, they can listen to the music for hours on end, thus risking and hearing damage. "Americans have in their minds that louder is better: The louder we are, the more behind our team we are; the louder the music, the better it sounds." With this in mind, many audiologists and other hearing specialists are working to educate the general public, especially school children. They hope to target an attack on hazardous noise, and are hoping for results similar to what was done with smoking. "As a result of that campaign, smoking, for the most part, is less desirable, and less accepted, because of the health risks it poses," he said. "The Chief, Hearing Conservation Data Registry be very significant in determining this type of reasoning. Although people can be advised and forced to protect their ears on the job, Wirth says it may not do a whole lot of good if they don't take heed of the activities they do away from work. Proof of this is the estimated 21 million Americans who have hearing loss in one or both ears, as reported by the American noise, the former being constant exposure at a person's worksite, incidental can be just as harmful. "For example, it's one thing to crank up a favorite compact disk and listen to it until someone complains; little damage is likely to occur," Wirth said. However, he said, there are people who do over-exposur- e same can be done to hazardous noise." Editor's note: For more information about hearing conservation, contact 1st Lt. Robert L. Eppens, with Hill's audiology clinic, Ext. |