A study on

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A study on
Noise and its effects on health
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Introduction

• Noise becomes one of the important physical
  factors which may have a variety of ill effects
  namely auditory and non-auditory on the worker
• The setting of special limits on exposure to
  noise is a political decision with results that
  vary between jurisdictions depending on economic
  and sociological factors.

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• In order to protect health of workers at
  workplace various practices like
• fixing limits of occupational exposure,
• fixing the maximum hours of work,
• reducing the sound production by practices like
  planned maintenance of machines,
• modification of speed of machines,
• using resilient materials,
• decreasing drop height, etc have been introduced
  in various legislations.
• workers are provided with ear muffs and ear plugs
  so as to give them protection against high sound
  levels.
• Audiometry examination of workers is also
  carried out as a part of periodical medical
  examination so as to detect the cases of
  occupational noise induced hearing loss (ONIHL)
  at its earliest

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• In this project we have tried to measure the
  Sound levels in various sections of the textile
  mill using a sound level meter.
• An effort was made to correlate the various
  auditory and non auditory ill effects of noise
  exposure to various
• socio-demographic variables,
• type of work
• sound level
• and past history of any ear damage which may have
  influenced hearing in that worker.

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2.AIMS OBJECTIVES

• The present study was carried out with following
  aims and objectives
• To study socio-demographic profile of the
  workers.
• To measure sound levels in different section of
  textile mill.
• To know the health problems resulting from high
  sound levels amongst study population.

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• To obtain data about past exposure to the factors
  affecting hearing.
• To study the knowledge, attitude and practice
  regarding the use of protective devices.
• To co-relate the problems due to loud sound with
  various socio-demographic variables.

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4.Mathodology Materials

• Study Area We have selected one textile mill
  which is situated in Ahmedabad city.
• The name of the mill is kept confidential as
  decided.
• Study Population We have selected 150 workers
  from different sections of the mill.

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Selection of workers from different
sections is as follows
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• Study Period The study period extended from 8th
  May to 10th October2006.
• Study Design Our study is a cross
  sectional study.
• Study Materials Pre-designed and pre-tested
  proformas were used.

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• Study Method
• First of all we procured the sound level meter
  from national institute of occupational health.
• Then we measured the sound levels in different
  sections of the mill.
• Then we arranged for the meeting with the workers
  from different sections of the mill.
• Then we explained them the proformas in their
  local language.
• The proformas were filled by us by asking them
  questions in their language which took
  approximately 10 minutes per person.
• The data was entered in Microsoft excel and was
  analyzed by appropriate statistical programme.

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RESOURCES
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TIME LINE CHART
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• OBSERVATION

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Figure I ... Age wise distribution
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Figure II Sex wise distribution

• The above figure shows that 137 (91.3 ) workers
  are males and 13 (8.7 ) workers are females.

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Figure III ...Education wise distribution
28(18.7) workers have primary education.Only
6(4.0) workers were illiterate. The above table
shows that 94(62.7) workers have secondary
education while
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past employment

• The above table shows that 88(58.7 ) of workers
  have no past history of any other occupation
  while 38(25.3 ) have past history of working in
  other textile mills.

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Distribution according to duration of present
employment
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According to the sound level at work place
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The above table shows that auditory ill effects
are present in 36( 24) of workers.
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Distribution as per non-auditory ill-effects of
sound
The above table shows that 45(30) of patients
have non auditory effects
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Distribution according to the type of
non-auditory ill effect
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Distribution as per knowledge of ill-effect of
sound

• The above table shows that 81(54) workers have
  knowledge about the ill effects of loud sound
  exposure.

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Information about provision, how to use and use
of protective device

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DURATION OF EMPLOYMENT v/s AUDITORY ILL EFFECTS
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DURATION OF EMPLOYMENT v/s NON AUDITORY ILL
EFFECTS
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PRESENT OCCUPATION v/s AUDITORY ILL EFFECTS
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USE OF PROTECTIVE DEVICES v/s NON AUDITORY
AUDITORY ILL EFFECTS
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SUMMARY
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• Highest sound levels were recorded from weaving
  section and ring frame subsection of spinning
  section.
• 1/4th of workers had auditory ill effect at the
  time of survey. Hearing loss topped the list of
  auditory ill effects.
• 30 of workers had history of non auditory ill
  effects at the time of survey.
• Headache and difficulty in communication were
  two most important non auditory ill effects
  perceived by workers.

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• 54 of workers had some knowledge about ill
  effects of high sound levels.
• Approximately 60 of workers were provided with
  the protective devices. But only 56 out of them
  were using protective devices.
• Auditory ill effects were significantly more in
  workers who were employed for more than 24 years.
  
• Ill effects of noise were significantly more in
  those in the weaving section.
• Both auditory and non-auditory ill effects were
  significantly less amongst the workers using
  protective devices than those not using them.

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7.RECOMMANDATION

• provision rate of protective devices viz. ear
  muffs and ear plugs needs to be increased.
• Proper Health Education needs to be given to
  workers regarding the use of protective devices.
• Audiometry needs to be carried out regularly.
• Corrective actions needs to be taken by employers
  to reduce sound levels in the textile mill
• Purchase specifications for machinery should
  contain clauses specifying maximum emission
  values.

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• THANK YOU