Deafening decibels damaging DIYers

Every weekend thousands of kiwis are putting their hearing in jeopardy by undertaking seemingly innocuous home and garden Do it Yourself projects.

One in three DIYers potentially damage their hearing through weekend home improvement pursuits and with just over half the country regularly involved with DIY, some 700,000 kiwis are seriously at risk of damaging their hearing.

The National Foundation for the Deaf (NFD) has revealed these facts after the results of their latest survey, commissioned in the lead-up to the Hearing Week 2010 and are delivering a clear message for people who engage in home improvement activities – always wear hearing protection.

The Market Knowledge survey conducted nationwide showed the kiwi culture of DIY is well and truly alive with 75 per cent of home owners reporting to be regular DIYers with the most common activities being lawn mowing, using a weed-eater, electric drill or hammer.

Louise Carroll, General Manager of the NFD says that being a nation that loves to mow lawns, fire up the leaf blower or undertake home renovations, it is crucial to educate people on the damage these activities can potentially have on our hearing.

“Prolonged exposure to excessive noise can lead to hearing damage or even permanent hearing loss. While this may not threaten lives, it has a major impact on a person’s quality of life. It is so easy to avoid any damage by simply wearing earmuffs or earplugs,” says Ms Carroll.

“DIY is part of our culture and should be embraced,” she says, “but people need to realise hearing loss through over-exposure to noise develops so slowly and insidiously that we often don’t know it has happened until it’s too late. The most frustrating thing for us is that it is preventable, and the precautions people can take are simple and easy to adopt.”

Alarmingly, many DIYers believe they are not in danger of damaging their hearing because they’re either not doing the activities for a prolonged duration, not using really loud tools or just cannot be bothered to wear hearing protection, all of which Stephanie Mears, Senior Audiologist from Bay Audiology dismisses.

“You do not need to be exposed to DIY tools for long periods to cause hearing damage. A series of sudden loud sounds from a nail gun could potentially cause as much damage as spending the weekend cutting up firewood with a chainsaw.

“Don’t forget those around you are also at risk from DIY noise.  If children or family members are nearby while you’re carrying out DIY activities, their hearing could be damaged and they should either be at a safe distance or wearing some sort of protection,” says Ms Mears.

“If you ever experience tinnitus – a ringing, buzzing or humming in the ears - following DIY activities, then you may have already damaged your hearing.   Even if you are fortunate enough for the tinnitus to dissipate over time, the delicate hair cells of the inner ear have been irreparably injured.”

Nearly half of those surveyed do not wear hearing protection when carrying out the most common of all DIY tasks - lawn mowing. The decibel level of a lawn mover can exceed 95 decibels (dB) and hearing damage begins with noise above 85dB.

However it is not only heavy-duty power tools causing damage.  A staggering 73 per cent of respondents acknowledged they do not use hearing protection when hammering. The short, sharp sound of banging a few nails into wood can reach 127dB which can be compared to the noise generated from a gun shot and could cause damage or even deafness.

Further survey results showed that nearly half the number of respondents do not wear hearing protection when using the weed-eater, a piece of machinery capable of producing 105dB, nor do 58 per cent when using the electric drill which generates around 80dB, normally in very close proximity to the ears.

Even though responsible DIYers are taking precautions to protect their own hearing, a disturbing 38 per cent allow their children to be exposed to dangerous levels of noise.

The survey also revealed DIYers are not just “home handymen” with 53 per cent of respondents being female.  Statistically females show a disregard for hearing safety more than men when it comes to wearing hearing protection.

Hearing protection such as earmuffs are readily available from hardware stores and power tool suppliers, earplugs can be purchased from chemists or through the Hearing Association website www.hearwell.co.nz

 

Top Ten DIY Noises              Decibel Level *(averaged across make, model etc)

Lawn Mower      95 dB +

Hammer nails into wood   127 dB

Weed Trimmer      105 dB

Drilling with an Electric Drill   80 dB + (operated very close to ears)

Leaf Blower / Vacuum    110 dB

Cutting wood with an Electric Saw  100 dB +

Sanding with an Electric Sander   101 dB

Chainsaw     110 dB +

Power Tools (Grinder, Planers, Routers)  104 – 113 dB

Water Blaster     95 – 103 dB 

* These values are indicative only, and have been collected from a range of sources.

Accurate measurement and expression of noise levels involves frequency weighting and time averaging. Hearing damage risk depends on these factors as well as the noise level. 

Decibel Level Comparison Chart

dB Sound      Effect on hearing 

140 Shot gun blast     Sounds above 130 dB may cause pain

130 Jet taking off     Sounds above 115 dB may cause instant damage

110 Rock group or trail bike

100 Pneumatic drill or MP3 player at top volume Continued exposure to sounds over 80 dB leads to permanent hearing loss

90 Heavy truck     

80 Busy street or loud radio    

70 Noisy office Brief exposure to sounds over 80 dB may cause temporary hearing loss   

60 Normal conversation      

40 Quiet office or home

30 Soft whisper

15 Average hearing threshold   Below 80 dB, you can work an 8-hour day

0   Acute hearing threshold   without using ear protection

Always wear hearing protection in high noise environments - if you think it might be too loud, it probably is.

 

 

What hearing protection should I use?

If you can’t make noise quieter or remove it, you need to use protection. 

Choose correctly

Here’s how to choose the right kind of hearing protection:

• It must be comfortable to wear

• It must be a good fit

• It must be appropriate for the work you do

• It must have the correct class for the type of work you do

• Seek expert advice if necessary. 

Use correctly

Hearing protection only works if you use it correctly. Here’s what you need to do:

• Make sure you wear it every time you are around noise

• Don’t take it off until you’re away from noise, or until the noise has stopped

• If you need to talk to someone, move away from the noise before removing your protection. 

For ear muffs

• Make sure the band goes over the top of your head, not around the back (unless it is approved for this use)

• Make sure the cushions fit tightly over your ears

• Ear muffs rely on a close fit over the ears, so don’t wear them over your hat. 

For ear plugs 

How to insert formable earplugs

1. ROLL the plug between your thumb and fore fingers to compress it into a small, smooth round cylinder.

2. REACH over the top of your head and pull up or back on the top of your ear. This straightens out your ear canal so the plug can go in far enough.

3. INSERT the tightly rolled plug into the straightened ear canal.

4. HOLD the plug in place for a few seconds to give it time to expand and seat itself in the ear canal. 

If you can get at least half of the plug into your ear canal, and it expands enough to stay firmly seated, it’s a good fit. 
 
 

Other tips for using earplugs

• When an earplug is properly inserted, your voice should sound louder and deeper.

• To check the fit, cup your hands over your ears and make a good seal. Count out loud while slowly cupping and un-cupping your ears. If the fit is good, your voice should sound the same as you cup and un-cup your hands.

• Use clean hands when rolling and inserting your earplugs, as dirt can irritate your ears.

• When removing an earplug, slowly twist the plug to break the seal. If you pull it out quickly without first breaking the seal, you could harm your ear.

• Note that there is equipment available from most suppliers that will enable the fit of a plug to be verified. This is a simple test and takes about 10 minutes. Most suppliers will do this test for you as well.