Safe Solutions

Most workplaces have potential safety hazards. When protecting employees, roofing contractors focus on the more obvious hazards, such as fall protection and burns.

However, in many work environments, noise-induced hearing loss often is an overlooked occupational hazard. Hearing damage resulting from overexposure to excessive noise levels is insidious because it occurs gradually. And because it has no visible effects, hearing damage often goes undetected.

During the course of a day, roofing workers may operate roof cutters and saws and work near gas-powered generators, which can produce extremely loud noise levels. As a result, hearing protection may be required.

The basics

The first step in protecting an employee's hearing is understanding how sound affects the human ear. Sound begins as an acoustic wave created by a vibrating source (think of a guitar string being plucked). The ear receives the vibration and directs it to the eardrum. From the eardrum, the wave is transmitted through the middle ear to the inner ear and transformed into nerve impulses that travel to the brain, which then interprets the impulses as sound.

On a job site, excessive noise levels are easy to recognize. When noise levels rise above 80 decibels (dB), people have to speak loudly. When noise levels range between 85 dB and 90 dB, people have to shout. When noise levels reach 95 dB or more, people must move closer together to hear each other. A good rule of thumb is if workers have to shout to hear one another over the sound generated by equipment, the noise level of the equipment likely is higher than 95 dB.

In its early stages, hearing loss can affect a person's ability to understand speech. As hearing loss progresses to lower frequencies, the ability to hear sounds in general is affected. Over a long period of time, the effects of noise-induced hearing damage can include a lack of ability to understand speech, tinnitus (or ringing in the ears), muscle tension, stress, ulcers, increased blood pressure and hypertension.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard Subpart D, 29 CFR 1926.52, "Occupational noise exposures," requires contractors to protect employees from exposure to sound levels. According to this standard, an employer must administer a continuing, effective hearing-conservation program whenever employee noise exposures exceed certain values.

Identifying the problem

To solve a potentially hazardous noise-related problem on a job site, the source must be identified. You can inspect a job site and ask yourself some questions. For instance, where will the loudest equipment be located during roofing operations? How many workers will be exposed to the noise?

To determine noise levels, you can use a sound level meter, or dosimeter, which measures sound waves to sample a person's exposure to noise. A dosimeter can help determine potentially hazardous noise levels produced by particular tools and equipment and the length of time workers spend operating them.

Another option is to hire an industrial hygienist to monitor noise levels. To conduct general noise sampling for a couple of hours can cost less than $500.

To monitor one person's exposure to noise levels during a workday costs about $1,500. The simplest option is to ensure workers exposed to loud noise wear ear plugs while they work.

Solving the problem

If administrative or engineering controls cannot reduce employee exposures sufficiently below dangerous levels, personal protective equipment must be provided. Look for hearing protection with the highest noise-reduction rating available. The higher the noise-reduction rating, the greater the protection offered.

When roofing workers are wearing hearing protection, they must be even more aware of their surroundings. On a tear-off, for example, workers wearing hearing protection and operating roof cutters must know where each is cutting because they may not hear each other. OSHA's fall-protection rules require that the safety monitor is able to be heard by those being monitored.

A typical roofing job site probably never is going to be a quiet place to work. Between tear-offs and installations, noise will continue to be a potential hazard. You can help reduce the effects by ensuring workers adequately are protected from noise-induced hearing damage.

Peter Greenbaum is NRCA's manager of education programs.