In 2018, an article was published about ototoxicants, chemicals that can cause hearing loss and balance issues, by the National Safety + Health magazine.
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) shared warnings in the article regarding the industries that have a higher exposure to these certain chemicals, as well as the adverse effects of ototoxicants increasing if these “workers are exposed to elevated noise levels.”
OSHA notes that one type of hearing loss that is “especially hazardous” is speech discrimination dysfunction. So, what is that you wonder?
Speech discrimination dysfunction is when someone is not able to distinguish a warning signal or voice from ambient noise. To put it another way, the person can hear, however, all sounds sound the same. The worker that suffers from this is at a much higher risk for accidents or mistakes. For example, if an alarm or alert is initiated, it doesn’t register for what it really is to the person who suffers from this type of hearing loss.
This is not very different from the common complaint from many folks with hearing loss that don’t initially recognize it - stating “I can hear, but I can’t understand.”
If this describes you, a consultation with a hearing healthcare professional is advised. Not sure where to start? We can help. Call 888-919-6824 or click here and we can help you schedule a hearing test with a provider near you.