Mining Hearing Conservation Programs: Do They Really Prevent Hearing Loss?

Hearing Conservation Programs (HCPs) have been required by regulation in mining environments since the year 2000. Yet, the hearing loss prevalence remains high in the mining industry. A variety of noise control solutions, as well as behavioral interventions have been developed. There is a large selection of hearing protection devices commercially available to the public and no shortage of for-hire audiometric test services. The availability of resources should allow for prevention of continued occupational hearing loss in mining; however the current prevalence of hearing loss leads to question if perhaps there are shortcomings in the effective execution of existing HCPs. Further, can the existing HCPs be modified to yield better results? A review of currently available literature to date as well as a recent data analyses conducted by NIOSH will be presented. In addition, potential solutions for increasing the effectiveness of HCPs in mining, with applicability to other heavy industries will be discussed. Such solutions will include greater worker involvement, improved training practices, and integrating hearing protection fit testing into existing hearing conservation programs.