EARLY INTERVENTION AWARENESS OF HEARING HEALTH AND NOISE EXPOSURE AMONG FIELD AND OFFICE ENGINEERS
1Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi, Odyoloji, Ankara, Türkiye Objective: To investigate the noise exposure of engineers working in the field and office, the measures they take to protect their hearing health, and their awareness of these issues. The importance of protecting hearing will also be emphasized.Introduction: Noise-induced hearing loss occurs due to exposure to unwanted sound, negatively affecting the hearing system. According to NIOSH, the maximum permissible noise level for 8 hours is 85 dB(A). To protect against workplace noise, hearing health information should be provided, necessary precautions taken, and regular hearing checks conducted.
Methods: A Google Forms questionnaire was sent to 100 volunteer engineers working in the field or office, collecting data. The questionnaire had 16 categorical questions. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 21.0.
Findings: Analysis showed 61.6% of field engineers had daily noise exposure of 3 hours or more, while 91.8% of office engineers had 2 hours or less, showing a significant difference (p<0.001). Additionally, 89.7% of field engineers and 65.6% of office engineers reported that their workplaces provide hearing protection measures, showing a significant difference (p=0.013). Moreover, 82.1% of field engineers and 54.1% of office engineers were informed about hearing protection, with a significant difference (p=0.008).
Conclusion: Field and office engineers differ in noise exposure duration, protective measures taken, and workplace provision of these measures. The study concludes that awareness of hearing health protection due to workplace noise exposure needs to be increased among engineers.
Keywords : Noise, Engineering, Hearing, Prevention and Control