Noise Induced Hearing Loss – An Examination of the Methods of Assessment in a Cross-sectional Study of 87 Industrial Workers

Abstract

Objectives

The surveillance of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) according to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) differs from the medico-legal criteria used to assess NIHL. Our study compares the two systems and proposes a novel method of simplifying the medico-legal criteria and applying it to ascertain noise-induced hearing loss.

Design

The anonymised audiograms of a group of 87 industrial workers from a single site were analysed with both methods.

Results

The comparison showed approximately one-third of the workers assessed in this study had their noise-induced hearing loss underestimated by the HSE criteria. The majority of these individuals were over 40 years of age.

Conclusions

The HSE criteria for noise-induced hearing loss needs review and re-alignment with the medico-legal criteria to address the discrepancy between the two systems.

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