Noise Exposure

[UPS Lifer]

There were some posts that said that ear plugs could be a safety issue because you mght not be able to hear buzzers or alarms. Don't any of you have deaf folks working in your hub or is it only my district that employs them?

I remember the first time I had to "talk" with a deaf employee. I heard packages slamming on the metro unloader as this employee was unloading a package car. I asked him to stop so I could talk to him. Of course his back was turned to me. He just continued to unload and "ignore" me as these packages kept slamming on the metro unloader. He must have sensed my anger - he turned around and I realized he was deaf! I was flabbergasted!! I figured his safety was at risk. I found out that they have a buddy system to make sure all employees watch out for our deaf partners.

Anyway - I would bet a lot of money that one of these employees wish they could be concerned about loud noises like the rest of us.....Something to think about!

 

[Big Babooba]

Most good hearing protection devices are designed not to eliminate noise, but to take the edge off of it. You can still hear louder sounds, but at a safer level.

 

[smf0605]

Yes, there are deaf people working in other buildings, but there are also arrangements made to buddy that employee with a hearing employee so that when an emergency buzzer sounds the buddy lets the hearing impaired employee know, the same arrangements are not made for people who wear ear plugs.

 

[UPS Lifer]

On another note....UPS ramp (air) employees are required to wear hearing protection while they are on the ramp. These employees are tested at least yearly for hearing loss. In some cases it is more frequent than that.

 

[ikoi62]

are you talking about the ones with the folding wood shelves?

They were loud weren't they!
i also hated having to resort when ever you hit a pothole or bump in the road in one of those.

 

[hondo]

Hello corroded Chris. Get yourself some earplugs. I sometimes use ones rated at 26db noise reduction (disposable, no neck cord, and they're brightly colored so it's obvious you're wearing them, unless you've got long hair-which should be tied up anyway). I figure this way I won't end up working in the area where all our hearing impaired employees are. When I was loading, in the front of the long boxes (45'-53' trailers), the noise wasn't too bad. But the closer you got to the back, or in the bays closer to the alarm horns it's bad. Couldn't hear the PA (if they were even working) anyway when in the nose of the trailers. You might have a hard time hearing anyone talking at a normal conversation level, but at UPS, who's talking at normal conversation levels? Loud talking and the warning buzzers are no problem, true noise reduction earplugs just "clip" off noise above a certain level, as The Big Babooba and Cementups alluded. And it's possible your [-]safety weenie[/-] CHSP person has cases of them in the back of a cabinet somewhere.

 

[chevydog66]

I am curious to the noise level db in the cab of a 10 cube diesel at 65 mph. I might have to purchase my own db meter and check for myself. You could do the same.