Occupational health risk assessment of noise-induced hearing loss in the wooden furniture manufacturing industry
Objective To assess the occupational health risk of noise-induced hearing loss amongoperators in the wooden furniture manufacturing industry and determine the key riskpoints.Methods From 2021 to 2023,the work place of 39 wooden furniture manufacturing enterprises and 852 wooden furniture noise operators were selected as the research subjects in the high-tech Zone of Changshou District in Chongqing City.The noise intensity in the workplace of the enterprise was measured and the individual noise exposure level was carried out in the noise-exposed workers.GBZ/T 229.4-2012 Classification of Occupational Hazards at Workplaces used to evaluate the hazardous degree of noise in different posts.The risk of high-frequency hearing loss(HFHL)and occupational noise-induced deafness(ONID)in noise-exposed workers in different posts at 50,55 and 60 years old were predicted by WS/T 754-2016 Guideline for Risk Management of Occupational Noise Hazard.Results The noise in the workplace of the wooden furniture manufacturing industry was found to exceed the occupational exposure limits with the rate of 32.7%.The maximum level of normalization of equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level to a nominal 8 h working day or 40 h working week of exposure to noise in workers of 10 posts was 87.3-96.5 dB(A).The noise hazards of the posts including planting,edge banding,precision cutting,carving,polishing were moderate,and cutting,production and special-shaped were serious except for the sanding and painting posts.The detection rates of HFHL and ONID were 15.7%and 6.6%.The risk of HFHL and ONID among operators caused by noise in various positions increased with the number of years of exposure,among them,the risk of HFHL among cutting workers,production workers,special-shaped worker,precision cutting workers and carving workers at the age of ≥50 was relatively high.The risk of HFHL among operators except for sanders and painters was relatively high when they reach the age of 60.The risk of ONID among cutting workers,production workers,special-shaped worker,edge banding worker,precision cutting workers,carving workers and polishing workers at the age of ≥50 was relatively high.The risk of ONID among cutting workers and production workers was high when they reach the age of 60.Conclusions The noise exposure intensity is high in the workplace of the wooden furniture manufacturing industry.The posts of cutting,production,special-shaped,edge banding,precision cutting,carvingand polishing are the key risk points,and operators have a higher risk of high-frequency hearing loss and occupational noise deafness.