World Hearing Day is EVERYDAY!
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Members of the Workforce (MOW) who are exposed to noise levels above 140 dBC, regardless of hearing protection worn, are required to be enrolled into the SNL Hearing Conservation Program which includes audiometric testing, online training (HCP100) and wearing hearing protection. Based on the area impact noise sample results, the attenuation provided by the MFCP was protective for mitigating noise to levels below the ACGIH TLV of 140 dBC. The results also validated the scaled distance equation in an open-air environment as the results at K635 (864 feet) were below 140 dBC.
One detonation test was monitored for impulse noise at Thunder Range on November 6, 2020. The TNT equivalency for this shot was 100 lbs. Ground zero for this test was located at an open area of Range 7. The Armag, where MOW were remotely located, was just south of the east end of the TR shock tube The purpose of this sampling event was to characterize the noise attenuation provided by the Armag which will be used as the primary firing location in a future test series. To determine attenuation provided by the Armag, one sound level monitor was placed inside and a second monitor was placed outside the hardened structure at the same distance from ground zero. The Armag was located 1300 feet from ground zero. Essential personnel performing these tests were remotely located inside the Armag and wore hearing protection with a minimum NRR of 23. Members of the Workforce (MOW) who are exposed to noise levels above 140 dBC, regardless of hearing protection worn, are required to be enrolled into the SNL Hearing Conservation Program which includes audiometric testing, online training (HCP100) and wearing hearing protection.
At the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field (formerly the Lewis Research Center), experimental research in aircraft and space propulsion systems is conducted in more than 100 test cells and laboratories. These facilities are supported by a central process air system that supplies high-volume, high-pressure compressed air and vacuum at various conditions that simulate altitude flight. Nearly 100,000 square feet of metalworking and specialized fabrication shops located on-site produce prototypes, models, and test hardware in support of experimental research operations. These activities, comprising numerous individual noise sources and operational scenarios, result in a varied and complex noise exposure environment, which is the responsibility of the Glenn Research Center Noise Exposure Management Program. Hearing conservation, community noise complaint response and noise control engineering services are included under the umbrella of this Program, which encompasses the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard on occupational noise exposure, Sec. 29CFR 1910.95, as well as the more stringent NASA Health Standard on Hearing Conservation. Prior to 1994, in the absence of feasible engineering controls, strong emphasis had been placed on personal hearing protection as the primary mechanism for assuring compliance with Sec. 29CFR 1910.95 as well as NASA's more conservative policy, which prohibits unprotected exposure to noise levels above 85 dB(A). Center policy and prudent engineering practice required, however, that these efforts be extended to engineered noise controls in order to bring existing work areas into compliance with Sec. 29CFR 1910.95 and NASA's own policies and to ensure compliance for new installations. Coincident with the establishment in 1995 of a NASA wide multi-year commitment of funding for environmental abatement projects, the Noise Exposure Management Program was established, with its focus on engineering approaches to reducing occupational and community noise exposure. The organization and mission of this Program were documented shortly after its inception, and individual programmatic components have been the subject of subsequent papers. This paper summarizes the status and accomplishments of the engineering aspects of the Program from a five-year retrospective viewpoint and includes a review of retrofit noise control solution strategies, which have not been previously documented.
The International Space Station (ISS) provides a unique environment where crewmembers from the US and our international partners work and live for as long as 6 to 12 consecutive months. During these long-durations ISS missions, noise exposures from onboard equipment are posing concerns for human factors and crewmember health risks, such as possible reductions in hearing sensitivity, disruptions of crew sleep, interference with speech intelligibility and voice communications, interference with crew task performance, and reduced alarm audibility. It is crucial to control acoustical noise aboard ISS to acceptable noise exposure levels during the work-time period, and to also provide a restful sleep environment during the sleep-time period. Acoustic dosimeter measurements, obtained when the crewmember wears the dosimeter for 24-hour periods, are conducted onboard ISS every 60 days and compared to ISS flight rules. NASA personnel then assess the acoustic environment to which the crewmembers are exposed, and provide recommendations for hearing protection device usage. The purpose of this paper is to provide an update on the status of ISS noise exposure monitoring and hearing conservation strategies, as well as to summarize assessments of acoustic dosimeter data collected since the Increment 36 mission (April 2013). A description of the updated noise level constraints flight rule, as well as the Noise Exposure Estimation Tool and the Noise Hazard Inventory implementation for predicting crew noise exposures and recommending to ISS crewmembers when hearing protection devices are required, will be described.
Environmental noise in space vehicles, caused by onboard equipment and crew activities, has generated concerns for crew health and safety since early U.S. space missions. The International Space Station (ISS) provides a unique environment where acoustic conditions can be monitored while crewmembers from the U.S. and their international partners work and live for as long as 6 to 12 consecutive months. This review of acoustic dosimetry data collected to date reveals that the noise exposure limits of NASA’s stringent noise constraint flight rule have been exceeded in 41% of these dosimetry measurements since ISS Increment 17 (2008), with undefined impacts to crew. These measurements do not take into account the effects of hearing protection devices worn by the crew. The purpose of this paper is to provide an update on ISS noise exposure monitoring approaches and hearing conservation strategies that include acoustic dosimetry data collected since the ISS Increment 55 mission (April 2018). Future directions and recommendations for the ISS noise exposure monitoring program will also be presented, including research initiatives aimed at better defining the impact of ISS noise on crew health and performance.
Environmental noise in space vehicles caused by onboard equipment and noisy activities has generated concerns for crew health and safety since early U.S. space missions. The International Space Station (ISS) provides a unique environment where acoustic conditions can be monitored while crewmembers from the U.S. and their international partners work and live for as long as 6 to 12 consecutive months. This review of acoustic dosimetry data collected to date reveals that the noise exposure limits of NASA’s stringent noise constraint flight rule have been exceeded in 41% of these dosimetry measurements since ISS Increment 17 (2008), with undefined impacts to crew. These measurements do not take into account the effects of hearing protection devices worn by the crew. The purpose of this paper is to provide an update on ISS noise exposure monitoring approaches and hearing conservation strategies that include acoustic dosimetry data collected since the ISS Increment 55 mission (April 2018). Future directions and recommendations for the ISS noise exposure monitoring program will also be presented, including research initiatives aimed at better defining the impact of ISS noise on crew health and performance.
This report is an OSH-DO Safety Action Bulletin that briefly discusses the link between dementia and hearing loss. The bulletin provides some basic statistics, hearing loss protection guidelines and resources for more information on the topic.