The effect of earplug training on noise protection

Abstract

BackgroundNoise-induced hearing loss is an occupational disease, and workplace noise exposure is a major hazard in Korea. Although hearing protectors effectively reduce a worker's exposure to noise, their success is compromised by the wearer's inability to fit the protectors correctly, and there are no proper training methods for using hearing protectors in small-scale industries. This study aims to evaluate the effect of earplug training on hearing protection using field microphone-in-real-ear (F-MIRE) and prevent noise-induced hearing loss.MethodsThe study population comprised 172 noise-exposed manufacturing workers who visited occupational health facilities in Daegu, South Korea, between July 2014 and September 2017. Personal attenuation ratings (PARs) were calculated with F-MIRE. Paired t-tests were used to compare the differences in PAR (dB) before and after training, and generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to compare the differences in PAR according to the number of trainings.ResultsMean PARs increased after the first and second training, and the differences were statistically significant. Among the 30 participants who received all 4 trainings, PARs were significantly higher after each training than before the training. As the number of training increased, the differences in PARs significantly increased. When comparing pretraining PARs for each training session, we found statistically significant differences between the first and second training and between the second and third training, but not between the third and fourth training.ConclusionIn this study, the short- and long-term effects of earplug training were statistically significant. In particular, the PAR before and after the fourth training showed the greatest increase, and the PARs continued to increase during each training.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Earplugs in Preventing Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in an Auto Parts Factory in China

“…Both the generalized linear model and logistic regression model showed that earplug attenuation had no significant effect on the hearing of participants. These findings are in agreement with the evidence from previous studies that the use of HPDs in the workplace is often inconsistent and not fully effective [ 7 , 9 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Specifically, these findings are consistent with Groenewold’s [ 5 ] report which showed self-reported use of hearing protection devices at work was not significantly associated with the odds of high-frequency threshold shifts among 19,911 noise-exposed U.S. workers.…”

“…The surveyed auto parts factory had a well-organized occupational health and safety program, in which workers received a group pre-employment training and annual refresher training followed by a written exam. However, multiple studies of the training methods have shown that they failed to teach how to properly fit their earplugs [ 9 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Individual training along with HPD fit testing has been shown to teach poorly performing subjects to insert earplugs properly and achieve sufficient attenuation [ 7 , 9 , 21 , 22 ].…”

Influence of Noise on the Workers’ Performance in an LPG-Refilling Site: Some Proposals

“…As a result, the findings imply that employees should use hearing protection to improve work performance among manufacturing workers. [12] . One indication of this concept in this study is the reduced time in capping 40 LPG canisters.…”

“…2019), which demonstrated the value of hearing protectors (earplugs/earmuffs) for lowering worker noise exposure. This will improve performance and reduce the likelihood of stressrelated illnesses, which have a negative impact on overall productivity [12] . Another study from Kozlowski et al (2019) shows a correlation to the findings of this study, wherein the way to increase work performance is to lessen the amount of noise received by workers with the use of engineering interventions like hearing protection [13] .…”