Noise on the job may damage more than your hearing
With the rise in awareness of many work-related illnesses, your California employer may be among those who frequently sponsor regular health screenings. Health care professionals may come to your place of employment and offer testing for your overall health, vision, hearing and other types of examinations.
If you work in an industry where the levels of noise are considerably high, you may not be surprised if these health screenings reveal that you may have a significant loss of hearing. However, what you might not expect to learn is that your blood pressure is dangerously high. This is what researchers have discovered while analyzing data collected by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Are you at risk?
About 25 percent of all workers in the U.S. deal with hazardous levels of noise on the job. This may include explosive sounds, heavy vibrations or prolonged noise at low or high decibels. NIOSH noted that the data showed a pattern across industries where levels of noise are consistently high, such as:- Mining
- Construction
- Manufacturing