The Study of Noise Exposure and Hearing Loss of Workers in Cable Manufacture

• Main Authors: Wang Chen-Yu, 王振宇
• Other Authors: Wang, Kuo-Hua
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/58159538426037160203

碩士 === 中國文化大學 === 勞動學研究所 === 97 === This investigation studied the noise effect to hearing for cable manufacture workers by the sound level of workplace, personal noise dose, hearing threshold, and questionnaire. The samples of this study are 214 workers in two cable factories, including 27 packing area workers, 33 drawing of copper area workers, 43 copper plating area workers, 56 tin plating area workers, and 82 administrative staffs (control group). Noise exposure group has 150 males and 9 females, and control group has 27 males and 55 females. It indicates that there are most male workers in exposure group. The average ages of exposure group and control group are 43-44 years old, and the 41-50 years old group is the most. In terms of years of service, those with 12 or less than 12 years of service accounted are the most, and the average is 10 years. Moreover, the most education degree of the workers is senior high school. The measurements of environment sound levels show the average equivalent energy sound level (Leq) is respectively 92.3dB of packing area, 87.0dB of drawing of copper area, 85.3dB of copper plating area, 81.3dB of tin plating area, and 59.4dB of control group. It indicates that sound levels of exposure group are much higher than that of control group. The result of spectrum analysis shows the noise sources at workplaces are low frequency noise from mechanical operation and the speech conversation of the broadcast. Although the personal noise doses (8 hours) of exposure group do not reach the 100% of the permitted value of regulation, however, the personal noise dose averages of packing and drawing of copper area workers are respectively 86.7% and 53.1%, they both go past the standard which the personal protective equipments and engineering improvements need to be provided. To compare with the hearing threshold measured and the corresponding values of Taiwan’s healthy people, it represents obviously raising hearing threshold in low frequency range. In particular, the drawing of copper area and copper plating area workers are more significant. And in high frequency range, the packing and drawing of copper area workers show the more threshold shift. Overall, the exposure group shows more abnormal hearing than that of control group. Besides the packing area workers in exposure group have higher abnormal hearing rate, and the drawing of copper area workers are the next. The logistic regression analysis result shows no matter what kind of hearing threshold shift criterion, the odds ratio of exposure group is higher than that of control group, it indicates the exposure has higher risk of hearing loss than that of control group. Besides, according to the hearing threshold shift criterion in Taiwan Hearing Conservation Program Guideline, the workers with abnormal BMI and chewing betel nut have higher risk of hearing loss than that of whom without, and these two variables are significantly correlative to abnormal hearing.