Hearing tests to be taught

Press, 15 August 1984, Page 9

Hearing tests to be taught

Personnel from private industries will be taught how to test their workers’ hearing at a two-day course in Christchurch this week. The course, which will start tomorrow, has been organised by the Health Department to train industrial staff such as nurses, safety officers, senior first aiders, and union officials in the organisation and implementation of hearing conservation programmes. Hearing conservation is a top priority with the depart-

meat, and these courses have been held regularly over the last three or four years. A medical officer in the department, Dr Stephen Gee, said that departmental staff regularly tested the hearing of workers and noise levels in Government departments. It also conducted health education programmes. The department encouraged and trained the private industrial sector to look after its own health, he

said. There were some 2500 private industries in Christchurch. Although the department’s five occupational health nurses spent 40 per cent of their time on hearing conservation, they could not cover all those work sites regularly, said Dr Gee. A substantial proportion of people in industry had damaged their hearing at work, Dr Gee said. In the last four years or so there had been a marked change in the attitudes of both employers and employees towards hearing conserva-

tion. “It used to be not quite the thing to wear ear muffs and hard hats,” he said, but people were more aware of occupational hazards and took more responsibility for their own health. The department tried to tone down excess noise in the workplace whenever possible. When that was not possible, such as with metal-cutting and woodplaning, the department tried to ensure that workers used protective devices such as ear muffs, Dr Gee said.