A Faceoff with Hazardous Noise: Noise Exposure and Hearing Threshold Shifts of Indoor Hockey Officials

Noise exposure and hearing thresholds of indoor hockey officials of the Western States Hockey League were measured to assess the impact of hockey game noise on hearing sensitivity. Twenty-nine hockey officials who officiated the league in an arena in southeastern Wyoming in October, November, and December 2014 participated in the study. Personal noise dosimetry was conducted to determine if officials were exposed to an equivalent sound pressure level greater than 85 dBA. Hearing thresholds were measured before and after hockey games to determine if a 10 dB or greater temporary threshold shift in hearing occurred. Pure-tone audiometry was conducted in both ears at 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 Hz. All noise exposures were greater than 85 dBA, with a mean personal noise exposure level of 93 dBA (SD = 2.2), providing 17.7% (SD = 6.3) of the officials\u27 daily noise dose according to the OSHA criteria. Hearing threshold shifts of 10 dB or greater were observed in 86.2% (25/29) of officials, with 36% (9/25) of those threshold shifts equaling 15 dB or greater. The largest proportion of hearing threshold shifts occurred at 4000 Hz, comprising 35.7% of right ear shifts and 31.8% of left ear shifts. The threshold shifts between the pre- and post-game audiometry were statistically significant in the left ear at 500 (p=.019), 2000 (p=.0009), 3000 (p\u3c.0001) and 4000 Hz (p=.0002), and in the right ear at 2000 (p=.0001), 3000 (p=.0001) and 4000 Hz (p\u3c.0001), based on Wilcoxon-ranked sum analysis. Although not statistically significant at alpha = 0.05, logistic regression indicated that with each increase of one dB of equivalent sound pressure measured from personal noise dosimetry, the odds of a ≥ 10 dB TTS were increased in the left ear at 500 (OR=1.33, 95% CI 0.73-2.45), 3000 (OR=1.02, 95% CI 0.68-1.51), 4000 (OR=1.26, 95% CI 0.93-1.71) and 8000 Hz (OR=1.22, 95% CI 0.76-1.94) and in the right ear at 6000 (OR=1.03, 95% CI 0.14-7.84) and 8000 Hz (OR=1.29, 95% CI 0.12-13.83). These findings suggest that indoor hockey officials are exposed to hazardous levels of noise, experience temporary hearing loss after officiating games, and a hearing conservation program is warranted. Further temporary threshold shift research has the potential to identify officials of other sporting events that are at an increased risk of noise-induced hearing loss

The Associations between Occupational Health and Safety Management System Programming Level and Prior Injury and Illness Rates in the U.S. Dairy Industry

U.S. dairy workers suffer occupational injuries and illnesses at rates higher than the national average. Occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) have been proposed as a way to reduce injuries and illnesses for businesses of all types and sizes. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) On-Site Consultation Service provides assistance establishing an OHSMS to U.S. businesses. As part of this service, the consultants determine the level of OHSMS programming using the Safety and Health Program Assessment Worksheet (Revised OSHA Form 33). A total of 167 dairy industry records were obtained from OSHA. Forty-five of those records had both injury rate and OHSMS data. Using these records, a Spearman Rank-Order correlation was used to determine the strength and significance of the associations between prior injury rates and OSHA measured OHSMS programming level for dairy operations. Additional analyses were conducted to examine potential relationships between workforce size, injury rates, and OHSMS programming levels. There was a negative correlation between OHSMS programming level and injury rates, both for the overall OHSMS and by OHSMS component. Management Leadership was the OHSMS component most strongly associated with lower injury and illness rates. OHSMS interventions, as part of a comprehensive risk management approach for the U.S. dairy industry, may be warranted to help reduce the unacceptable number of injury and illnesses in the U.S. dairy industry. Further research is needed to determine if similar relationships between OHSMS programming and injury rates occur in other industries