What are the effects of loud noise at work?

Prolonged exposure to loud noise can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss, and other long-term hearing problems.

• You may suffer from temporary deafness after leaving a noisy place. Although your hearing may recover after a few hours, take this as a danger sign. Continued exposure could cause permanent damage.
• Sudden, extremely loud noise can also cause permanent hearing damage, for example, from cartridge-operated machines or sudden noise bursts down the telephone, known as 'acoustic shocks'.
• Hearing loss can be gradual, due to prolonged exposure to noise.

With incurable hearing loss, you may not be able to hear a television unless the sound level is high, you may not keep up with conversation in a group, or you may have trouble using the phone.