Shkembi Abas, Smith Lauren, Roberts Benjamin, Neitzel Richard
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Cardno ChemRisk, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Occup Environ Med. 2022 May;79(5):304-307. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2021-107906. Epub 2021 Oct 25.
The contribution of hazardous noise-a ubiquitous exposure in workplaces-to occupational injury risk is often overlooked. In this ecological study, the fraction of US workplace acute injuries resulting in days away from work in 2019 attributable to hazardous occupational noise exposure was estimated.
Using the NoiseJEM, a job exposure matrix of occupational noise, and 2019 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, the proportion of workers experiencing hazardous occupational noise (≥85 dBA) was estimated for every major US Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) group. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated for each major SOC group using the relative risk (RR) taken from a published 2017 meta-analysis on this relationship.
About 20.3 million workers (13.8%) are exposed to hazardous levels of occupational noise. Nearly 3.4% of acute injuries resulting in days away from work in 2019 (95% CI 2.4% to 4.4%) were attributable to hazardous occupational noise, accounting for roughly 14 794 injuries (95% CI 10 367 to 18 994). The occupations with the highest and the lowest PAFs were production (11.9%) and office and administrative support (0.0%), respectively.
Hazardous noise exposure at work is an important and modifiable factor associated with a substantial acute occupational injury burden.
有害噪声是工作场所普遍存在的一种暴露因素，其对职业伤害风险的影响常常被忽视。在这项生态学研究中，我们估算了2019年美国因有害职业噪声暴露导致的需要休假的工作场所急性损伤的比例。
利用职业噪声作业暴露矩阵NoiseJEM和2019年职业就业与工资统计数据，估算了美国每个主要标准职业分类（SOC）组中经历有害职业噪声（≥85分贝）的工人比例。使用从2017年发表的关于这种关系的荟萃分析中得出的相对风险（RR），计算每个主要SOC组的人群归因分数（PAF）。
约2030万工人（13.8%）暴露于有害水平的职业噪声中。2019年因急性损伤导致休假的病例中，近3.4%（95%可信区间2.4%至4.4%）可归因于有害职业噪声，约占14794例损伤（95%可信区间10367至18994）。PAF最高和最低的职业分别是生产行业（1l.9%）和办公及行政支持行业（0.0%）。
工作场所的有害噪声暴露是一个重要且可改变的因素，与相当大的急性职业损伤负担相关。
