Indicators of Hearing Protection Use: Self-Report and Researcher Observation

Abstract

Hearing protection devices (HPD) are commonly used to prevent occupational noise-induced hearing loss. There is a large body of research on hearing protection use in industry, and much of it relies on workers’ self-reported use of hearing protection. Based on previous studies in fixed industry, worker self-report has been accepted as an adequate and reliable tool to measure this behavior among workers in many industrial sectors. However, recent research indicates self-reported hearing protection use may not accurately reflect subject behavior in industries with variable noise exposure. This study compares workers’ self-reported use of hearing protection with their observed use in three workplaces with two types of noise environments: one construction site and one fixed industry facility with a variable noise environment, and one fixed industry facility with a steady noise environment. Subjects reported their use of hearing protection on self-administered surveys and activity cards, which were validated using researcher observations. The primary outcome of interest in the study was the difference between the self-reported use of hearing protection in high noise on the activity card and survey: (1) over one workday, and (2) over a 2-week period. The primary hypotheses for the study were that subjects in workplaces with variable noise environments would report their use of HPDs less accurately than subjects in the stable noise environment, and that reporting would be less accurate over 2 weeks than over 1 day. In addition to noise variability, other personal and workplace factors thought to affect the accuracy of self-reported hearing protection use were also analyzed. This study found good agreement between subjects’ self-reported HPD use and researcher observations. Workers in the steady noise environment self-reported hearing protection use more accurately on the surveys than workers in variable noise environments. The findings demonstrate the potential importance of noise exposure variability as a factor influencing reporting accuracy.

10-Year prospective study of noise exposure and hearing damage among construction workers

“…However, we did attempt several methods of accounting for HPDs, including restricting the analysis to those that reported never using HPDs, which is most likely to be accurate, and found no significant change in our effect estimates. In our previous analyses of HPD use among construction workers, we have found 50% of construction workers self-reported ‘always’ use, but when observed, the fraction of exposure time in which HPDs were used was only about 17%37 to 24% 32…”

“…The cohort included construction workers who have relatively high noise exposure levels, including a high degree of peak noise, but who wear HPDs a small fraction of the time 32. The analysis is based on an exposure measurement database of over 1300 full-shift personal noise dosimetry measurements on subjects and construction workers doing comparable work 30.…”

Noise Exposure of Workers and the Use of Hearing Protection Equipment in New Zealand

“…32,33 Self-reported HPE use may also vary with the type of noise exposure: variable or steady state. 34 For this study, we asked workers to report on their typical HPE use when working in noise, and did not specifically ask for information about the day that noise measurements were made. This may have led to higher than expected reported usage rates.…”

Effects of Hearing Protection Methods and Noise Directions on Bone-Conduction Sensitivity

“…If we stimulate bone conduction, their speech perception ability would be altered. According to Griffin et al's survey study, [17] workers in the steady noise environment self-reported the use of hearing protection more accurately than workers in variable noise environments. Third, almost all bone conduction studies have been conducted over the past 40 years, so the results have been limited to audiology applications, such as using a bone conduction device to measure the hearing threshold in order to differentiate middle-ear disorders from inner-ear disorders.…”

“…[19] Moreover, voice type such as male or female and background noise levels should be considered in future studies. [18] Since chronic NIHL is most commonly caused by prolonged exposure to high levels of noise, to prevent manufacturing and construction workers from developing NIHL, [17] effective hearing protection devices and communicating though bone conduction must be used.…”