I work at a hospital and do maintenance. When I mow the lawn or run the snowblower, I am REQUIRED to wear ear silencers. I find this not only rediculous, but dangerous. If the mower blade hits a rock, I cant even hear it. I have been mowing and running power equipment all my life, and my hearing is fine. Or, at least my hearing WAS fine until December 31. On December 31, it is mandatory that we change the batteries in the smoke detectors in every room throughout the hospital. That means every patient room, the hallways, the bathrooms, even the janitor closet. Of course, changing the battery also means testing the detectors. So here I was standing on a ladder with these things blasting one foot from my ears, in a tiny closet. Room after room I had to listen to this noise until I could barely hear anyone talking, and this went on over half the day. I was not told by my supervisor to wear ear protection, apparently it's not in the OSHA book, which means it's not required.
My ears literally hurt after this......
While smoke detectors are a good thing to save lives in the event of a fire, those saved may end up deaf.....
I am looking for facts and statistics about this. Anybody have any?
Next year, I will INSIST on wearing ear silencers, or will refuse to do the job until I can wear them.....
Freddy