What'd you say?

I’ve had tinnitus for almost 20 years. Sometimes it’s really loud, like a chainsaw running in my head, and other times it’s dull and more annoying than anything else. My normal hearing is still pretty good, I think, but low voices or sounds get muffled in the hum in my head, and I find myself saying with some frequency, “What’d you say?” or “Can you repeat that?” Of course, some of it might be that I’m just getting older, and the sins of my youth on the range are catching up to me.

Here’s some information related to this about the construction industry that you may find relatable. Fourteen percent of construction workers have difficulty hearing, and seven percent have tinnitus. Twenty-five percent of construction workers have enough hearing impairment that it impacts their dayto- day activities. If you recognize there are about eight million construction workers in America, then about half a million of them have tinnitus, 1.2 million of them have trouble hearing, and over two million of them have enough trouble hearing that it impacts their daily activities.

Guess what? It’s partially our own fault. Fifty-two percent of noise-exposed construction workers report they are not wearing any hearing protection, and 51% of all construction workers have been exposed to hazardous noise. Sixteen percent of all noise-exposed construction workers have hearing impairment in both ears.

Ever listen to a skill saw or a table saw tearing through a piece of plywood? How about being around when somebody pulls the trigger on a powder-actuated tool into the concrete or a piece of red iron? There is significant noise in those things that your eardrums have to respond to quickly, often from near silence. The more frequently you expose your ears to loud noise, the greater the need to protect them. It seems funny to me now that I’m preaching it like I’ve always done it, it’s only since the hum in my head that I really started paying attention. Here’s the irony, too: we talk all the time about wearing safety glasses because glasses are cheap and can be replaced. Eyes are sensitive and don’t always heal back to their original condition when injured. How much cheaper can protection get than the 50-cent foam ear plugs we provide on every job site? Ear drums are hard to replace, too. Hearing aids may make you able to participate in a conversation again, but they don’t get rid of the hum.

Bryant Seymour, a safety and occupational health specialist in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Directorate of Construction, suffers from tinnitus in both ears today after more than 30 years in construction and works to make us aware of the “do as I say, not as I did” learning principle in professional journals published every month. “Hearing conservation in construction is more than just safeguarding workers’ hearing. It’s about maintaining their long-term health and allowing them to carry out their tasks with focus and clarity. The consistent use of hearing protection and regular monitoring helps prevent irreversible damage, which improves quality of life beyond the workplace.”

Right now, as I write this, the train is whistling in my ears. If you were to read this to me, I’d hear about 75% of it. I hope the 25% I didn’t quite pick up wasn’t important.