Industrial noise at work takes toll on man’s ear
Lokam Sivannarayana, a 34-year-old resident of Mallapur, Nacharam in Hyderabad, says he is a victim of noise pollution. After working in a private firm Navanidhi Electronics here for seven years, he faced lot of health problems including damage to his left ear. He had to undergo an ear surgery.
All these are due to the high noise pollution from vibration testing machines in the environmental lab where he worked all these years, he says.
The Telangana state pollution control board (TSPCB), in a response, said if this was proven as an occupational health hazard, he deserved a compensation from the company. Howev er, the man has not received any compensation from the company even after several complaints were made to the concerned authorities.
On January 11, 2017, Sivannarayana complained to the national accreditation board for testing and calibration laboratories (NABL-LA) about the high noise levels at the environmental lab. Sound level exceeded the maximum permissible noise exposure levels specified in table 1 and 2 of the factories rule vis-a-vis health issues of employees.
Sivannarayana said, “Personnel protective equipment such as hand gloves, goggles, nose masks etc were never provided to us in the factory. I have spoiled my health after working there for seven years. “Many of my colleagues have also suffered health and hearing issues there, after which they too left the company.’’
He said, “I was ill for almost six to eight months, after which I have started working again in a small company. Now, I can only do paper and documentation works due to the damage to the ear and other health problems. I have also filed an RTI, to which I got a reply, saying that the factory’s sound level exceeded the maximum permissible noise exposure levels.’’
‘’I have also complained to the factories department of Telangana regarding the Navanidhi Electronics in May-2016, and it has started an investigation after whic h it was found that those who ran the company sold it to someone and left for the US. The factories depart ment has also filed a case against the company in the court of XIII Metropolitan Magistrate Court at L.B. Nagar,’’ he said.
After the complaint by Sivannarayana seeking an investigation into the noise levels at the factory, NABLLA investigated the matter and said, ‘A surprise visit was paid to laboratory on January 27, 2017 by NABLLA to ascertain it was evaluated by the NABL complaints committee and found no deviations reported against the requirements, particularly in as far as the laboratory activities are concerned. Other issues relating to health are deemed fit. In this regard, the committee noted that the issue is currently subjudice. Further, NABL has no role in this issue, which pertains mainly to the operations of the factory, as it comes under the purview of factory rules and acts. In view of the aforesaid outcome, the NABL committee recommends closing of the complaint.’’
Dr Vyshnavi, consultant ENT from Max Cure Hospital, said, “Worldwide 16 per cent of disability hearing loss is due to occupational exposure to noise. In India, noise-induced hearing loss (NIHI) is a compensable disease and the government compensates for it. Typically, NIHI causes nerve-related hearing loss and these patients are treated by hearing aids, and surgeries are advised if the patient has trauma to the ears.
Prevalence of the level of hearing loss increases with age in times of occupational exposure to noise. The incidents of hearing loss in factory workers with over 10 years of occupational exposure to noise can be as high as 50 per cent.”
He adds, “Working for long hours where the sound level exceeds the maximum permissible level can lead to many ear-related effects like hearing loss which starts with inability to hear soft sounds and a difficulty in understanding telephonic conversation. Not only high noise levels affect ears but it also leads to many other health hazards like exhaustion, hypertension and other cardiovascular problems and vertigo.’’