M. Rashaad Hansia|David Dickinson
Hearing protection device usage at a South African gold mine
University of the Witwatersrand|University of the Witwatersrand
background occupational noiseinduced hearing loss nihl occurs many industries despite interventions hearing conservation programmes aims determine actual reported use hearing protection devices hpds noiseexposed gold mine workers reported knowledge attitudes practices relating nihl hpds methods crosssectional descriptive study conducted 101 noiseexposed mine workers interviewed use hpds observed results thirteen percent respondents erroneously indicated workplaces noisy 16 appreciate noise hearing loss hazard 6 know hpds protect hearing 3 believed hpds protect hearing 93 respondents reported using hpds 50 observed observed use less among lower skilled workers despite training 8 respondents claimed never informed benefits hpds consistent continuous use reported 24 31 respondents respectively reasons using hpds included discomfort respondents 57 preferred training methods current computerassisted training conclusions persistence nihl may explained limited use hpds along suboptimal knowledge noise hazard workplace noisiness benefits hpds among workers concurrent engineering controls range hpds available free charge hpd training reviewed particularly lower skilled workers