BSIF targets workplace hearing loss

‘Listen Today, Hear Tomorrow’ hearing-protection campaign aims to help tackle the issue

ALMOST 10 million people in the UK today are deaf or have some degree of hearing loss. That is almost 1 in 6 people, and this figure is expected to rise to around 14.5 million by 2031.

In response, the British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) Hearing Protection Product Group has developed the ‘Listen Today, Hear Tomorrow’ campaign, an initiative designed to address the issue of hearing loss in the workplace.

The brochure and workplace posters that have been created offer guidance for companies looking for information on how to protect their workforce, suggesting easy steps to check out if they think they may have a noise hazard.

‘Listen Today, Hear Tomorrow’ stresses the importance of listening to the message now to have the best opportunity of avoiding work-related hearing loss in the future.

The campaign message is simple: it is avoidable. Many circumstances can cause hearing loss which may just be temporary. But once your hearing is damaged it will not recover.

Noise-induced hearing damage, whatever the cause, can have a relentlessly distressing impact on quality of life, not only for the person who suffers from it, but also for their loved ones, family and friends.

It is grouped by the Health and Safety Executive as ‘long latency’, which means that its effects can build up over a long period of time, sometimes decades, and sufferers may not even notice the symptoms gradually worsening until the effects become severe.

To find out more about the ‘Listen Today, Hear Tomorrow’ campaign, visit: www.bsif.co.uk