Editorial
The Health effects of noise at work
July 2006
Sheila Pantry OBE
Noise at work can cause hearing loss that can be temporary or
permanent. People often experience temporary deafness after leaving a
noisy place. Although hearing recovers within a few hours, this should not
be ignored. It is a sign that if you continue to be exposed to the noise
your hearing could be permanently damaged. Permanent hearing damage can be
caused immediately by sudden, extremely loud, explosive noises, e.g. from
guns or cartridge-operated machines.
But hearing loss is usually gradual because of prolonged exposure to
noise. It may only be when damage caused by noise over the years combines
with hearing loss due to ageing that people realise how deaf they have
become. This may mean their family complains about the television being
too loud, they cannot keep up with conversations in a group, or they have
trouble using the telephone. Eventually everything becomes muffled and
people find it difficult to catch sounds like 't', 'd' and 's', so they
confuse similar words.
Hearing loss is not the only problem. People may develop tinnitus
(ringing, whistling, buzzing or humming in the ears), a distressing
condition which can lead to disturbed sleep. Remember: Young people can
be damaged as easily as the old. Look at the advice and guidance from many
authoritative sources listed in OSHWORLD's subject file under Noise
and also Noise and Hearing
Loss.
This month's OSHWORLD FOCUS draws attention to the European
Week for Safety and Health at Work 2006. The European Agency for
Safety and Health at Work 2006 campaign slogan is 'Safe Start' and is
dedicated to the occupational safety and health (OSH) of young people to
ensure a safe and healthy start to their working lives. The Agency's web
pages contain helpful information for young people, employers, parents and
supervisors of young people.
European Week 2006 will run from 23rd - 27th October 2006
The Diary of Events show how many courses, conferences and
seminars are being held around the world to enable people to keep up to
date with the developments. Any new items carry the tag NEW!
It essential that training needs are constantly updated. It is
essential that everyone is trained to do their job correctly. You may find
the series of EurOhse2006 Masterclasses www.eurohse2006.com
and other courses listed in the diary help to
focus the type of training needed.
The following products will certainly ensure that you are kept
up-to-date with the latest information sources in a wide range of health,
safety, hygiene, chemical, environment and waste information sources.
OSH-UPDATE
A NEW bibliographic databases, updated monthly, covering critical
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a million citations from over 5000 journals and 100,000 monographs and
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FIRE, EMERGENCY AND PREPAREDNESS WORLDWIDE
At the point when Risk Assessment assumes a principle role in the
activities of the fire and rescue services, and workplaces will need to do
their own assessment there is no better time than now to look at Fire
Emergency and Preparedness Worldwide - the premier collection of
validated, authoritative information both full text
and bibliographic.
OSH-IRELAND
OSH-IRELAND has become the essential OSH source for organisations and
practitioners seeking up-to-date full text
information on all aspects of health and safety in Ireland. OSH-IRELAND
is published with the co-operation of the Health and Safety Authority,
Dublin, Ireland and other organisations.
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TRIAL contact: Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 1909
771024 | Fax: +44 (0) 1909 772829 | email: sp@sheilapantry.com
| www.sheilapantry.com
Your OSHWorld Portal
We hope that you find the information in OSHWORLD useful in your daily
work. Globally there are continually new titles, news items, new products
so remember to look at the News to find the latest
information from a number of worldwide sources.
Use OSHWORLD as your portal to many hundreds of validated and
authoritative web sites which you can find in the Country
and Subject links we offer. New subject topics
are constantly brought together on web sites, e.g. avian flu and the
workplace.
Most information services have a reference shelf where you can quickly
check the reference sources - so OSHWORLD brings you a collection of Reference
sources and also teaches you how to Search the Internet.
Click onto the various Bookshops
to order any new document as they are being published. Many of these
Bookshops have a constant stream of new titles available.
Please send any suggestions or comments about OSHWORLD - your portal to
validated and authoritative information. Remember also to look at our
other really useful sites - www.sheilapantry.com
and why not make a free entry about your company's products in www.shebuyersguide.com
Most of all why not try out a 30-day free trial to www.oshupdate.com
Don't work harder - work smarter! Be ahead of the game.
Wishing you a zero accident, incident-free and
healthy year in 2006 in your workplace!
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