Reducing the Risk of
Hearing Disorders
Among Musicians & Crew
Musicians and others involved
in the music industry are at risk of developing permanent
hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and other hearing
disorders from exposure to loud sounds. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) examines
the risks associated with music exposure and provides recommendations to protect their hearing.
NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limit
In the United States, occupational regulations and standards were established to protect workers against the
health effects of exposure to hazardous substances and
agents when certain values (or limits) are reached. NIOSH
establishes recommended exposure limits (REL) for various hazards on the basis of the best available science and
practice. The NIOSH REL for noise is 85 decibels, using the
A-weighting frequency response (often written as dB(A)
or dBA) over an 8-hour average, usually referred to as
time-weighted average (TWA). The A-weighting of sound
levels is thought to provide a rating that indicates the injurious effects of noise on human hearing. Exposures at or
above this level are considered hazardous.
The NIOSH REL was developed to assess the risk of hearing
loss among industrial workers exposed to steady broadband noise over 8-hour work shifts for up to a 40-year
working lifetime and thus may not be completely applicable to assessing the risk to musicians and other music
professionals who have irregular and unpredictable sound
exposures. Musicians’ work schedules vary considerably—
they typically play less than 4 hours per day, and sometimes
just 2 or 3 sessions or work shifts per week. The REL specifies a maximum allowable daily noise dose, expressed in
percentages. The noise dose is based on both the sound
exposure level and how long it lasts (duration), so for each
3-dB increase in noise exp