Industrial Noise

OCCUPATIONAL deafness has long been associated with certain noisy trades. With the advent of the steam engine came the job of boilermaker, one of the noisiest. The expression, "boilermaker's disease," is sometimes used as a synonym for occupational deafness. Many other jobs involving the use of steam, electric, compressed-air and internal-combustion power to shape metal and operate machines create noise intensities capable of damaging hearing after prolonged exposure. Since the loss of hearing develops slowly, the occupational relation is not always recognized. For many years, neither physicians nor workers were greatly disturbed, and boilermaker's deafness was viewed as a hazard . . .