Listen Up As We Discuss The Health Of Your Hearing
Using fuzzy sticks (or pipe cleaners), a participant at a Progressive Agriculture Safety Day learns about damage caused to the stereocilia, the tiny hair cells inside the cochlea, due to exposure to loud noises. This hands-on activity reinforces that once damage occurs, it is often irreversible and permanent.
Did you know that noise is one of the most common causes of hearing loss? From a single shot fired from a shotgun at close range to repeated exposure to loud machinery, loud noises can present a serious health risk. No matter if the damage occurs instantaneously, over time, or through repetitive exposure, it is often permanent and irreversible.
Using fuzzy sticks (or pipe cleaners), a participant at a Progressive Agriculture Safety Day learns about damage caused to the stereocilia, the tiny hair cells inside the cochlea, due to exposure to loud noises. This hands-on activity reinforces that once damage occurs, it is often irreversible and permanent.
October is recognized as National Protect Your Hearing Month, as hearing loss is currently the third most common chronic physical condition behind arthritis and heart disease. With 22 million individuals exposed to hazardous noise levels at work, occupational hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses in the United States. However, by implementing the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) you can reduce the noise exposure level and the risk of hearing loss.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if the noise or sound level at the workplace exceeds 85 decibels (dB), a person should wear hearing protection.
Many may assume hearing loss only affects older populations, but young people are at risk as well. More than 1 billion people, between the ages of 12-35, are at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe listening. A past study of the World Health Organization found that North American children may be exposed to more noise at school than workers from an 8-hour workday in a factory. For example, personal listening devices often have a maximum volume of around 105 dB. Therefore, in recent years, the Progressive Agriculture Foundation® teamed up with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in partnership with the University of Michigan and Dangerous Decibels®, to develop hearing safety curriculum for use at Progressive Agriculture Safety Day® events. The primary objective of the curriculum is to provide early intervention with youth and initiate the conversation on hearing safety from a young age.
During a safety station at a Progressive Agriculture Safety Day® event, participants learn that hearing loss is preventable and distinguish the difference between safe and dangerous noise levels through identifying common farm and rural sources of dangerous noise. Through engaging, hands-on learning these three key messages are reinforced:
Protect your Ears by wearing earplugs or earmuffs.
Walk Away from loud noises.
Turn it Down by lowering the volume on things we can control.
With an abundance of decibel-reading apps now only fingertips away on smartphones, it is now easier to learn how much noise is in the world around us. Therefore, take a moment and reflect on the noises you encounter on a day-to-day basis. What are you doing to protect your ears and avoid hearing loss? Remember, don’t put your hearing health to the test, invest in protection, turn it down, or walk away to give your ears much needed rest!
The “Safety Day Corner” is a safety message by the Progressive Agriculture Foundation® (PAF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, with the mission to provide education, training, and resources to make farm, ranch, and rural life safer and healthier for all children and their communities. Recognized as the largest rural safety and health education program for children in North American, the Foundation’s Progressive Agriculture Safety Day® program, has reached more than 1.8 million youth – and counting – since the program’s inception in 1995. For more information about PAF and its programs, visit: www.progressiveag.org.