Every year, about 30 million people in the U.S. are occupationally exposed to hazardous noise that can lead to noise-induced hearing loss. Exposure to these sounds on the job can cause permanent hearing damage, which cannot be corrected by surgery or a hearing aid. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 125,000 workers have suffered significant permanent hearing loss since 2004, with additional reports in 2009 alone of more than 21,000 hearing loss cases.
At a typical construction site, workers are exposed to many types of noisy operations. Hearing loss from loud noise limits your ability to hear high frequencies, understand speech, and reduces your ability to communicate, which can lead to social isolation. At a construction site, loud noise can also reduce work productivity and contribute to workplace accidents by making it difficult to hear warning signals.