Editing Hearing loss (section)

===Workplace noise regulation===
Noise is widely recognized as an [[occupational hazard]]. In the United States, the [[National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health]] (NIOSH) and the [[Occupational Safety and Health Administration]] (OSHA) work together to provide standards and enforcement on workplace noise levels.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/|title=Noise and Hearing Loss Prevention |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health|access-date=July 15, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709222707/http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/|archive-date=July 9, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/noisehearingconservation/standards.html|title=Safety and Health Topics: Occupational Noise Exposure |website=Occupational Safety and Health Administration|access-date=July 15, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506050548/https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/noisehearingconservation/standards.html|archive-date=May 6, 2016}}</ref> The [[hierarchy of hazard control]]s demonstrates the different levels of controls to reduce or eliminate exposure to noise and prevent hearing loss, including [[engineering controls]] and [[personal protective equipment]] (PPE).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noisecontrol/#The%2520Hierarchy%2520of%2520Control|title=Controls for Noise Exposure |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health|access-date=July 15, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704113757/http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noisecontrol/#The%2520Hierarchy%2520of%2520Control|archive-date=July 4, 2016}}</ref> Other programs and initiative have been created to prevent hearing loss in the workplace. For example, the [[Safe-In-Sound Award|Safe-in-Sound Award]] was created to recognize organizations that can demonstrate results of successful noise control and other interventions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.safeinsound.us/|title=Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award |website=Safe-in-Sound|access-date=July 15, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527193835/http://www.safeinsound.us/|archive-date=May 27, 2016}}</ref> Additionally, the [[Buy Quiet]] program was created to encourage employers to purchase quieter machinery and tools.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/buyquiet/default.html|title=Buy Quiet |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health|access-date=July 15, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808151558/http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/buyquiet/default.html|archive-date=August 8, 2016}}</ref> By purchasing less noisy power tools like those found on the [[NIOSH Power Tools Database]] and limiting exposure to ototoxic chemicals, great strides can be made in preventing hearing loss.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wwwn.cdc.gov/niosh-sound-vibration/|title=PowerTools Database |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health|access-date=July 15, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630135841/http://wwwn.cdc.gov/niosh-sound-vibration/|archive-date=June 30, 2016}}</ref>

Companies can also provide personal hearing protector devices tailored to both the worker and type of employment. Some hearing protectors universally block out all noise, and some allow for certain noises to be heard. Workers are more likely to wear hearing protector devices when they are properly fitted.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010-136/|title= Occupationally-Induced Hearing Loss | department = Publication number 2010-136|website = U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512031928/http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010-136/|archive-date=2016-05-12|doi=10.26616/NIOSHPUB2010136|year=2010|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Often interventions to prevent noise-induced hearing loss have many components. A 2017 Cochrane review found that stricter legislation might reduce noise levels.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal | vauthors = Tikka C, Verbeek JH, Kateman E, Morata TC, Dreschler WA, Ferrite S | title = Interventions to prevent occupational noise-induced hearing loss | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | volume = 7 | pages = CD006396 | date = July 2017 | issue = 7 | pmid = 28685503 | pmc = 6353150 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.cd006396.pub4 }}</ref>  Providing workers with information on their [[sound exposure level]]s was not shown to decrease exposure to noise. Ear protection, if used correctly, can reduce noise to safer levels, but often, providing them is not sufficient to prevent hearing loss. Engineering noise out and other solutions such as proper maintenance of equipment can lead to noise reduction, but further field studies on resulting noise exposures following such interventions are needed. Other possible solutions include improved enforcement of existing legislation and better implementation of well-designed prevention programmes, which have not yet been proven conclusively to be effective. The conclusion of the Cochrane Review was that further research could modify what is now regarding the effectiveness of the evaluated interventions.<ref name=":1" />

The [[Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance]] has created a hearing impairment calculator based on the ISO 1999 model for studying [[threshold shift]] in relatively homogeneous groups of people, such as workers with the same type of job.  The ISO 1999 model estimates how much hearing impairment in a group can be ascribed to age and [[Sound exposure|noise exposure]].  The result is calculated via an [[algebraic equation]] that uses the A-weighted sound exposure level, how many years the people were exposed to this noise, how old the people are, and their sex. The model's estimations are only useful for people without hearing loss due to non-job related exposure and can be used for prevention activities.<ref>{{cite web|last=Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance|title=Hearing impairment calculator|url=https://www.dguv.de/ifa/praxishilfen/noise/gefaehrdungsbeurteilung-und-unterweisung/software-berechnung-von-hoerschwellenverschiebungen/index.jsp}}</ref>