Occupational Noise Exposure and Hearing Defects among Sawmill Workers in the South of Thailand.

Occupational Noise Exposure and Hearing Defects among Sawmill Workers in the South of Thailand. Int J Occup Saf Ergon. 2017 Oct 23;:1-23 Authors: Thepaksorn P, Koizumi A, Harada K, Siriwong W, Neitzel RL Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate occupational noise exposure and hearing defects among sawmill workers in the South of Thailand. Seven hundred sawmill workers participated, of which 335 (47.9%) were male. The mean age of the sawmill workers was 33.5 years old (SD = 10.2), and more than 60% were <35 years old. 75.1% of the workers had less than 5 years of work experience. Only about one in four workers (25%) had been trained on use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and half of participants never or rarely wore PPEs while working. The prevalence rate of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) was 22.8% (N =42). Male workers had significantly higher risk than female workers (OR=2.21). Workers who aged more than 25 years old had significantly higher risks for NIHL (OR=3.51-12.42) than workers less than 25 years old. Sawing workers had higher risk than the office workers for NIHL (OR=3.07). PMID: 29058570 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics - Category: Occupational Health Tags: Int J Occup Saf Ergon Source Type: research