The bass may drop, but is it at the cost of your eardrums?
WorkSafeBC is raising awareness with regards to the risk of hearing loss in the service industry and has alerted employers and workers across the province.
“We spend a lot of time more in typical industries such as construction and forestry where its a very noisy environment, but not lots in pubs and nightclubs where there are excessive amounts of noise,” Director of Prevention Services at WorkSafeBC, Dan Strand told MyPGNow. “We’re seeing the proper evaluation of the risks and precautions are not being taken by the employers.”
Regular exposure to noise levels above 85 decibels can cause permanent hearing loss in unprotected workers, yet studies have found that pubs and nightclubs in British Columbia regularly exceed that during a regular shift.
While hearing protection is key in the service industry, WorkSafeBC states that bartenders, servers, and other workers are often reluctant to use hearing protection with the belief it will make it difficult to communicate with customers.
“Studies show that when noise levels reach 90 decibels or higher, hearing protection actually improves your ability to hear speech, said Strand. “We need to change how we think about hearing protection in the service industry.”
Hearing protection devices protect workers, while still allowing them to hear clearly — usually even better than without them, according to WorkSafeBC.
If noise levels exceed 85 decibels over an eight-hour shift, employers are required by regulation to have a noise control and hearing conservation program. Important elements of such a program would include noise measurements done of the establishment, hearing protection, as well as annual hearing tests for employees.
“There is an obligation for the workers to bring considerations such as overexposure to noise to the attention of their employers. We would empower these workers to take these steps and if they’re not seeing any improvement, we do have an ability to send an officer to have a conversation and check in on the level of compliance.”
According to HealthLinkBC, noises in the range of 80-89 decibels include heavy traffic, window air conditioners, the inside of a noisy restaurant, and power lawn mowers. Anything above 85 decibels is considered harmful. Noises reaching 90-95 decibels include subways and shouted conversation.