Telephone ringtones, finger tapping on the keyboard, discussions between colleagues… At work, noise pollution is commonplace. And they are not without consequences. On the occasion of Hearing Health at Work Week, which runs until October 28, the National Hearing Day (JNA) association looks back on the repercussions that these ambient noises can have.
One in two working people say they are bothered by too high a noise level at work, while four out of ten working people wear individual protection to remedy this. Finally, nearly 80% of employees in the tertiary sector say they are bothered by noise. Nuisances that have an impact on health, since occupational hearing loss ranks third among occupational diseases.
But that's not all:ambient noise at work also has an impact on productivity. Thus, one worker in five would lose more than 30 minutes of work per day due to noise, i.e. 120 hours per year, which would represent a loss of productivity of approximately 23 billion euros each year. To remedy this, the JNA wishes to raise awareness of this problem in the world of work, by organizing, among other things, hearing screening campaigns in companies.
