OSHA works with industry leaders to reduce number of patients with hearing loss. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working with patients who have work-related hearing loss will be frustrated to learn that the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has withdrawn its proposed guidelines for controlling occupational noise. Why:
SLPs and occupational therapists alike are most likely to work with patients who are suffering noise-induced hearing loss as it's the most common occupational disease and the second most self-reported occupational injury, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Good news:
But hope isn't lost. Industry groups like ASHA continue to work with OSHA to reshape and better define noise-control guidelines and find more feasible approaches to reducing the frequency of work-related hearing loss.