Abstract:

Hearing loss problems caused by noise are one of the 10 most common occupational diseases encountered in the European Union, and in Romania it is in the top 5. Hypoacusis (hearing loss) or deafness caused by damaging noise is one of the diseases which are identified on the European list of occupational diseases. As well as the hearing loss for those workers already affected, general noise presents additional accident risks at the workplace, as a result of communication difficulties arising from the activity itself. Also, in addition to hearing loss problems, noise causes psychosocial problems, such as stress and anxiety. Each employer is responsible for the safety and health at work within his company and for taking appropriate measures to ensure safe and healthy working conditions. In this case, the main purpose is to eliminate the risk of occurrence of occupational deafness due to exposure to noise and to maintain the productivity of the company. Safety and health at work must be an integral part of a managerial approach and this logic because it is productivity, quality and safety at work are intrinsically linked issues. The case study in this paper presents the noise risk assessment procedure, identifies workplaces where there are noise problems, workers exposed to noise and noise reduction methods where exceedances of the maximum permissible values ​​are found.