Awarding and Promoting Excellence in Initiatives to Control Noise and Prevent Hearing Loss

How can we capture the impact of noise control? The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Hearing Conservation Association are helping answer this question through the Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award(tm). The award gathers, organizes and disseminates information on proven approaches to reduce the risks associated with noise exposure. By disseminating evidence-based strategies, Safe-in-Sound(tm) aims to enable other organizations to effectively advance hearing loss prevention practices. The award highlights accomplishments and reminds a larger audience of the importance of controlling noise. Some winners report that the award provides leverage and opportunities to expand the reach of the current approaches within their organizations. Furthermore, several Safe-in-Sound(tm) solutions have been adopted by other organizations or in other geographical regions. Beyond recognizing those that have reached a pinnacle of achievement, the award motivates winners to pursue additional program improvements and to reach higher goals. In addition, the award has facilitated the adoption of successful noise control activities and strategies for workers not traditionally considered in typical workplace hearing loss prevention programs (e.g. musicians, military personnel).