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Hearing loss a big threat on the farm

This is National Farm Safety and Health week and while many of the dangers of the farm are quite obvious, big equipment, livestock, others are not. Dr. Barb Marlenga with the National Farm Medicine Center says one of the quiet threats is hearing loss. “It’s a big problem in agriculture because of the high noise exposure.” Adding to the problem is the fact that agriculture is exempt from many of the noise regulations applied to other industries. “So it is upon the farm owner and operator to make sure they use hearing protection and their family and workers use hearing protection.”

Dr. Marlenga says the only way to really find hearing loss initially is with hearing tests. “The good news is this is one of the most preventable injuries there is.” Simple things like putting good mufflers on engines and fixing machines that make excessive noise. The other key element is to either wear ear plugs or ear muffs. She says today’s hearing protection is very effective, user friendly and even “trendy”.

AUDIO: Dr. Barb Marlenga talks about the threat to hearing on the farm 3:45