Macro and micro management of hearing conservation in the South African mining

Abstract

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) can be prevented, but only by incorporating more proactive and innovative measures into our NIHL-prevention programmes. At present, direct and indirect costs to the mining industry resulting from occupational noise are unacceptable and, more importantly, mineworkers’ quality of life is being eroded. Researchers at the CSIR Laboratory for Mining Innovation (LMI) propose that the use of the large data-bases of audiometric results available at mines be analysed in ways that will provide information to prevent NIHL by early identification and by proactive intervention in areas of the mine where trends in hearing loss indicate at risk groups and workplaces. The management of hearing loss prevention is therefore at a macro level. The method also proposes a hearing-loss-risk matrix as a tool for collating information about each worker into a format that can be used for counselling and for education and training for NIHL prevention, so that “case- or micro-management” measures can be applied. This matrix, together with audiometric database analysis (ADA) to monitor NIHL risks across the workforce, would enable a two-tiered or macro- and micro-management approach that could contribute to finally eradicating NIHL in the South African mining industry.