Northwest: Region 8
Regional Emphasis Program - Noise Induced Hearing Loss
Every year thousands of workers suffer from preventable hearing loss due to high workplace noise levels. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, in 2019, approximately eighteen million workers were exposed to potentially damaging noise, and the incident rate for hearing loss for all industries nationwide was 1.4 per 10,000 full-time workers. For workers in the “Goods-Producing Industries,” specifically manufacturing, the rate was almost four times higher at 5.4. More specifically, the rate was slightly over six times higher than the rate for all private industry at 8.6 for all manufacturing North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes. In Prefabricated Wood Building Manufacturing, NAICS 321992, the rate of hearing loss was astonishingly high at 31.1, approximately twenty-two times the rate for all private industry establishments.
Therefore, in the manufacturing NAICS of 31 through 33, those industry sectors with incident rates for hearing loss of at least nine were selected for inclusion in this instruction. These NAICS are listed below.
The goal of this REP is to identify, reduce, and eliminate exposure to the hazard of excessive noise levels. OSHA in Region VIII proposes to accomplish this through outreach and enforcement activities. Outreach activities will include letters to employers, training sessions with stakeholders, electronic information sharing activities, and news release broadcasts. Enforcement activities will begin not earlier than three months after outreach is initiated and will include, but not be limited to, the inspection and review of operations and working conditions, injury and illness records, and safety and health programs to identify and obtain corrections of workplace hazardsat all applicable inspection sites.
Sources
1 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Overall Statistics - All U.S. Industries – Occupational Hearing Loss. August 27, 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ohl/overall.html Accessed February 25, 2021.
2 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Table 2.1 Employment by Major Industry Sector. September 1, 2020. https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/employment-by-major-industry-sector.htm Accessed February 25, 2021.
3 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Requirements in United States News Release. May 28, 2020. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ors_05282020.htm. Accessed February 25, 2021.
4 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Requirements Survey: Occupational Profiles. https://www.bls.gov/ors/factsheet/pdf/ors_occupational_profiles.pdf Accessed February 25, 2021.
5 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) TABLE SNR08. Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational illness, by industry and category of illness, 2019. https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/os/snr08_00_2019.xlsx Accessed February 25, 2021.
