Industrial Noise Poses Threat To Many Workers

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31627, 13 March 1968, Page 16

Industrial Noise Poses Threat To Many Workers

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) SYDNEY, March 12.

Unless noise in industry can be reduced, 35 to 40 per cent of people employed in many workshops will retire with their hearing impaired, according to Dr Aram Glorig, professor of otolaryngology at the University of Texas. Dr Glorig arrived in Sydney last night to deliver a series of lectures on industrial noise prevention at the invitation of Australian Paper Mills, Ltd: The professor, who Is also director of the Callier Hearing and Speech Centre in Dallas, said the only way to deal with the problem of ever-increasing noise was by tackling it at its source. “By that I mean, for instance, better silencers on cars and better tyres to reduce road noise,” he said. ! “All airport tarmac workers should wear ear-plugs as a protection against the overstimulation of their eardrums by jet noises. Industrial noises which i screamed unceasingly for

hours on end in factories and mines were particularly injurious to the ears of employees, Dr Glorig said. Employers should make every effort to engineer excess noises away from the sensitive ears of their workers. “We must do all these things and many more if we want to protect the hearing of present and future generations,” declared Dr Glorig, adding, however, that industrial noise caused only widespread deafness. It was not responsible for nervous breakdowns, loss of sexuality, or even loss of sanity.