• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.376-383
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• 2006

Noise induced hearing loss (NIHS), the well-known occupational disease, is caused by continuous excessive noise. The prevention of NIHS is very important, because it is unrecoverable. There are some kinds of hearing protection device (HPD), and those are effective in preventing NIHS. But workers in noisy environment often resist to wearing them. Because they are ready - made products, so workers feel uncomfortable to wear. Also, they didn't maintain the conversation frequency range, so workers are hard to communicate in wearing them. To prevent hearing loss effectively, it is important that workers keep wearing HPD. Therefore, a HPD is needed to be comfortable to wear and be effective not only in hearing protection but also in preserving communication ability. So we proposed a custom - made hearing protection device in which a small acoustic filter is inserted. We designed several kinds of small acoustic filters and carried out some acoustic experiments for measuring characteristics of filters. We confirmed that acoustic transmission characteristic can be adjusted from experimental results using designed small acoustic filters. And we researched for the actual efficiency of a new developed custom - made hearing protection device using a small size acoustic filter. Also, we found out that workers are more satisfied with the new development than a former protection device from a workers' response.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.200-208
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• 2007

The noise induced hearing loss, which is one type of the hearing losses, is well known occupational diseases. The prevention of the noise induced hearing loss is very important, because it is unrecoverable. There are some kinds of devices for hearing protection, and those are effective in preventing the noise induced hearing loss. However, people often resist the use of hearing protection devices because they have some difficulties during conversation in wearing the devices. To solve the problem, a small acoustic filter can be used for a hearing protection device. In this paper, we designed several kinds of small acoustic filters and analyzed the characteristics of designed small acoustic filters using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). From FEA results, we proved the characteristics of designed small acoustic filters which vary according to length and diameter. And we found out that the general tendencies of modeled filters using FEA are same as acoustic experiment results of designed filters.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2018

Background: The understanding of the relationship between risk perception, knowledge, and protective behaviors could play a major role in occupational risk control and management. Research exploring how workers perceive, recognize, and react to risks in different occupational settings is scarce in Thailand. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of noise-related risk perceptions and knowledge to the use of hearing protective devices (HPDs) among sawmill workers in Thailand. Methods: Sawmill workers (n = 540) from four factories in Trang, Southern Thailand, participated in a questionnaire interview from December 2015 to January 2016. Descriptive statistics and linear regression models were used to explore the risk factors related to HPD use. Path diagram analysis was demonstrated and used to evaluate associations. Results: Risk perception was significantly correlated with HPD use (p < 0.01), HPD training (p = 0.01), and the number of years of work experience (p = 0.03). Sawmill workers were likely to use HPDs based on their risk perception and HPD training. However, HPD training was inversely correlated with age and the number of years of work experience. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of risk perceptions and knowledge, and these factors should be emphasized in the design and implementation of any personal safety intervention program for sawmill workers.