Hearing Loss Prevention goes beyond a Hearing Loss Prevention Programme.

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The primary aim of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act 85 of 1993 according to its preamble is to ensure that that employers "provide for the health and safety of persons at work and for the health and safety of persons in connection with the use of plant and machinery; the protection of persons other than persons at work against hazards to health and safety arising out of or in connection with activities of persons at work; to establish an advisory council for occupational health and safety; and to provide for matters connected therewith". Noise is one of the most common occupational hazards (Gerges, et al., 2001:103) which is damaging to industrial health (Kim et al., 2010:10) and even though great advances have been made in hearing protection technology, hearing conservation programs (HCP) alone are not sufficient to deal with noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) and cannot be a substitute for proper engineering controls (Suter, 2012:24). The latter is true and it can be fundamentally be attributed to the lack of effective and efficient HCPs.


Companies which have good hearing conservation programs normally struggle with answering questions regarding the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, adequacy, equity and sustainability of their HCPs. This is mainly because most of these companies focus their resources on the development and implementation of the HCP and neglect the important steps of monitoring and evaluating their programs. This is precisely why you should have consultants who are not just about consulting but know what they are doing and can provide your company with value for your money. stop taking measurements for the sake of taking measurements, stop protecting your employees' hearing only on paper and start unlocking true value from your HCPs.


http://www.masobodehc.co.za/