Workers of the hospital maintenance sector: protection, hearing symptoms and noise exposure

ABSTRACT Purpose: to investigate the use of hearing protection and symptoms in hospital maintenance workers and evaluate the noise level of the machines. Methods: a cross-sectional quantitative study held with workers from a public hospital maintenance service. A questionnaire related to personal, clinical and occupational history was used. Measurement of the noise level of the machines in the sector was carried out using a sound pressure level meter. Results: 57 male workers participated, mean age of 43.28 years, among the workers, carpentry prevailed (10.53%), length of time at the job averaged 8.9 years and 9.3 daily work hours; 45.76% did not know what could be done to reduce maintenance noise; 59.65% wore hearing protectors at work, ear plug model (47.37%), and 82.45% thought that the noise was reduced when they wore the hearing protector correctly. Auditory and non-auditory signs and symptoms were denied by most workers. Noise perception in the maintenance service was medium (53%) and high (44%), evidenced noise levels of 62.0 to 101dB (A). Conclusion: the hearing protector was worn by 59.7% of the workers, the plug model was the most used (47.4%) and 75.8% reported that occupational noise decreased with the use of hearing protectors. Most workers use hearing protection and have no hearing symptoms. However, the presence of symptoms such as otalgia (8.8%), otorrhea (5.3%), dizziness (14.0%), tinnitus (17.5%) and difficulty in speech comprehension (7, 0%) should be pointed out. Noise assessment showed high levels from some maintenance machinery, representing a risk for hearing. The sectors of the woodwork and metalwork were the noisiest.

摘要
研究目的：调查公立医院维修人员的听力防护用品（hearing protector）使用情况与相关症状，并评估作业设备的噪声水平。
研究方法：本研究为针对某公立医院维修服务部门员工开展的横断面定量研究（cross-sectional quantitative study）。采用涵盖个人史、临床病史与职业史的调查问卷进行数据收集；使用声压计（sound pressure level meter）对作业区域内的设备噪声水平进行实测。
研究结果：本次研究共纳入57名男性员工，平均年龄为43.28岁；其中木工岗位占比最高（10.53%），员工平均工龄为8.9年，日均工作时长为9.3小时。45.76%的员工不清楚可采取何种措施降低维修作业噪声；59.65%的员工在工作中佩戴听力防护用品，其中以耳塞式（ear plug）防护用品为主（47.37%）；82.45%的员工认为正确佩戴听力防护用品可有效降低噪声。多数员工否认存在听觉与非听觉相关体征及症状。维修作业的噪声感知程度为中等（53%）与较高（44%），实测噪声水平介于62.0~101dB（A）之间。
研究结论：59.7%的员工佩戴了听力防护用品，其中耳塞式防护用品的使用率最高（47.4%）；75.8%的员工表示佩戴听力防护用品可降低职业性噪声暴露。多数员工使用了听力防护用品且未出现听力相关症状，但仍有部分员工存在耳痛（8.8%）、耳漏（5.3%）、头晕（14.0%）、耳鸣（17.5%）及言语理解困难（7.0%）等症状，需引起重视。噪声评估结果显示，部分维修机械设备的噪声水平较高，存在听力损伤风险；其中木工与金属加工区域为噪声最高的作业区域。