If you’re a construction professional, you probably already know that the safety of your employees is your top priority. Hearing loss can be a common problem on construction sites if you don’t take steps to educate and protect your employees. Hearing loss doesn’t only affect your employees’ ability to do their jobs — it can also have long-lasting health consequences as well. Thankfully, there are a few steps that you can take to prevent hearing loss while working with loud tools and machinery.
- Sponsor hearing tests. Many construction unions require that employees who work with used hydraulic breakers or other types of heavy machinery have their hearing tested regularly. If your union doesn’t require hearing tests, you may want to sponsor them throughout the year to ensure that hearing loss or damage doesn’t go unnoticed.
- Provide plenty of industrial-grade earplugs. One of the most effective ways to prevent hearing loss when working with heavy machinery is to wear industrial-grade earplugs. However, it’s important that you select the right types of earplugs for your job site, as standard commercial earplugs won’t provide adequate protection when working with used hydraulic hammers, bulldozers, and other types of major machinery. Order your industrial-grade earplugs in bulk and freely provide them to employees to keep their ears protected.
- Encourage employees to quit smoking. Though most people know that smoking can cause serious lung problems, many fail to realize that smoking can also cause cells to degrade throughout the body. When combined with a loud work environment like a construction site, smoking can speed up hearing loss and cause a bad problem to become even worse. Offer incentives for employees who choose to quit smoking.
As a construction professional, the safety and quality of your tools are your top priority. If you’re currently using unsafe or out-of-date hydraulic tools, call to learn more about our affordable rebuilt hydraulic breakers and hammers!
