It goes without saying that a construction site can be a dangerous place to work but it can also be a noisy one too.

Without proper protection, the sound of drills, machinery, and other commonplace noises that go with the territory of being a construction worker can soon take their toll on your hearing.

Here is a look at the potential hearing loss dangers and what steps to take to protect yourself. There is an overview of typical scenarios that lead to hearing loss and some insights on the symptoms you might experience, plus some tips on taking action to protect yourself.

The dangers of consistent exposure to noise

If you are searching for hearing protection options you might want to try this, and in case you are wondering why it is so important to wear ear defenders, it is worth remembering that regular exposure to high levels of noise can lead to permanent hearing loss.

Once you reach that point, not even surgery or a hearing aid can bring your hearing back to where it once was. If you are consistently exposed to a noisy environment such as a construction site it can make it difficult to hear warning signals or high frequencies, which will then make it hard to communicate and could even make it dangerous to work under such circumstances.

Always a potential risk

You can experience damage to your hearing over a period of time and the symptoms might develop gradually, or you might be exposed to a one-time event like an explosion, that can instantly damage your hearing.

Construction sites are notorious for being a noisy environment and you would expect to follow health and safety regulations to ensure that the proper precautions are followed when you are using loud tools like power drills and even nail guns, but you need to be aware that prolonged exposure to lower levels of noise can also cause permanent damage.

If you have a power generator whirring away on site for the day, you might think that this could represent that much of a risk to your hearing, but if you are exposed to a level of noise that is about the same as a lawnmower running for about 8 hours without stopping, even that level of exposure is enough to put you at risk of damaging your hearing permanently.

It starts with higher frequencies

Hearing loss is a real issue in the workplace that needs to be addressed as it can often be a painless gradual process, so you are not always aware of the damage you are doing to yourself until it is too late.

The tiny hair cells that line your inner ear (cilia) are vulnerable to damage when you are exposed to high levels of noise on a regular basis and the first stage of that gradual damage is when you start to struggle with higher frequencies.

The damage can then start to affect more of your ear over time and you then reach a point where you start to notice that speech is muffled or distorted when you are trying to make out what someone is saying to you.

You could also experience ringing in your ears known as tinnitus, which is something that can happen to you without any other apparent hearing loss.

The answer is to be proactive rather than reactive with your hearing. Where suitable ear protection and go for regular tests to check that everything is okay.