Workers in British Columbia’s (Canada) upstream oil and gas, drilling, and pipeline construction industries are more likely to suffer hearing loss than other industries according to 2014 hearing tests results.
More than one-third of workers in the oil and gas industry overall showed signs of noise-related hearing loss; specifically, more than 36 percent of workers in the oil and gas drilling subsector showed signs of noise-induced hearing loss.
“This is a concern. The hearing test results in oil and gas for noise-related hearing loss are more than double compared to other industries with hazardous noise levels,” said Budd Phillips, regional prevention manager, Fort St. John, WorkSafeBC. “Employers in the oil and gas industry need to ensure the health and safety of their workers and prevent noise-related hearing loss injuries.”
According to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, employers are required to provide hearing loss prevention programs, monitoring of noise levels, and annual hearing tests for workers exposed to hazardous noise. WorkSafeBC’s data indicate only 15 percent of workers in oil and gas and pipeline construction in B.C. were tested in 2014.
“This is a call to action for employers in hazardous noise industries to ensure their workers have access to hearing loss prevention programs and annual testing, as well as vigilant monitoring to determine where and when the highest levels of noise exposure are occurring and take appropriate engineering control measures to reduce exposures,” added Phillips.
WorkSafeBC data also indicate hearing protection used in the oil and gas industry is in some cases insufficient and needs to be re-evaluated by employers. It also indicates that 27 percent of young workers working in the oil and gas field servicing subsector report that they do not wear hearing protection devices.
Read the WorkSafeBC Bulletin or get more information about hearing loss prevention by reviewing A Guide to Hearing Loss Prevention Programs and by watching The Hearing Video.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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