Region 4: Southeast

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Approximately 30 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise exposures on the job and over 9 million are at risk for hearing loss from occupational exposure to noise, which remains a persistent cause of employee illness in the workplace. Exposure to excessive levels of noise, coupled with inadequate personal protective equipment and the lack of an effective hearing conservation program continue to put workers at significant risk of permanent impairment. Noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common occupational diseases and is the second most selfreported occupational illness or injury. In addition to hearing loss, other health hazards in these industries may include exposures to dust, silica, hexavalent chromium and organic solvents. According to 2017 BLS data, the incidence rate of hearing losses in Wood Product Manufacturing (18.5) was more than 13 times that of Private Industry (1.4). The