Ear protection and hearing loss is something I never took serious until recent years. This is also an area where I find young car mechanics will also fail in protecting themselves, because early damage is hard to notice and the indestructible mindset of youth.
After almost 25 years of being an automotive mechanic my hearing has been permanently damaged. The first telltale sign was that my family kept telling me to turn the TV down. After a recent hearing loss diagnostic test I was told that my hearing is at about 50%.
I was told by the Doctor that once this damage has occurred it’s permanent. It won’t come back but it might even deteriorate further. Hearing can be compared to vision loss which is another one of the 5 senses that only gets worse over time. This all could have been avoided by wearing noise protection. The inner ear will not heal like a cut.
Protection Against Hearing Damage
Exposure to very loud noise levels for extended periods of time can lead to hearing loss. The air wrenches and impact guns, and even the sound of a running engine under load in an enclosed area will generate harmful levels of noise.
Simple earplugs or headset type earphone ear protectors should be worn in environments that are constantly noisy. Ear protection and hearing loss should be respected even if you are just a weekend car mechanic. One of the most damaging noises can be from striking objects with a hammer.
The intensity and the frequency level of the noise is a leading cause of hearing loss. Also the short duration of the sound created may leave the mechanic in the dark that he is actually doing damage to his ears. In this case ignorance is not bliss. You should also wear ear protection when you are using an air powered hammer. An air chisel or impact hammer working on a metal object can produce extremely destructive levels of ringing type damaging noise.
Save the Ears for Your Older Years
The government fleet shop that I work in has strict rules about wearing personal protection devices. As I look around the shop at the young mechanics that I work with I find that they follow these rules religiously. That is except for wearing ear protection when hammering.
I see them wearing their safety glasses and their protective gloves, along with their metal toe shoes, But with no earplugs. I invited some of the young guys over to my house to speak with my family about how my hearing loss has affected our lives.
I can no longer watch TV without disturbing the neighborhood. I also can’t hear the phone ring unless it is right in front of me or in the same room. Movies where people talk softly forget about it. Lastly the intermittent ringing of the ears I get is very annoying.
However, one of the biggest problems for me is, my wife says that I never listen to her. She’s right I can’t hear a darn thing she’s saying most of the time.
At least I was able to bring the test results home and show the family the reason I do not listen well. I really have a hearing loss problem I’m not just ignoring people. But you can avoid this problem by wearing protective noise canceling head gear or even disposable ear plugs. In my opinion it truly is the most underused, personal protection device in the auto repair field.
Give this ear protection and hearing loss page a share with a friend and come back and get some ear plugs.
This is just one short page about the practice of being safe when performing your own auto repairs. This next link takes you to the auto repair safety module. Over there you can learn more about other vulnerable areas of the human body you need to protect against injury.
The most visited spot on this car fixing website is the video section. Not only are these clips short and helpful, but they also make an effort to point out tips for safety. Visit the page full of car repair videos.
Discover what else is available on this automobile website on the Homepage for YouFixCars.com. Also find out why the car mechanic that built it thinks you can fix cars with some good advice and a little practice.