KEY POINTS:
The Accident Compensation Corporation wants changes to the way noise is controlled, after an explosion in the number of people who have gone deaf.
More than 4500 people lost their hearing in the past 12 months because of excessive noise, costing ACC millions of dollars in compensation.
This is Deaf Awareness Week and ACC's injury prevention programme manager, John Wallaart, said it was a timely opportunity for New Zealanders to look at how noise was being controlled in and out of workplaces.
ACC spent $54 million in the past year on all noise-induced hearing loss claims, an increase of about $10 million from the previous year.
Mr Wallaart said noise-induced hearing loss could not be cured, but was preventable. Noisy equipment should be replaced or boxed in, or workers should be moved from it.
If it could not be eliminated, earplugs or earmuffs must be worn whenever it was noisy, Mr Wallaart said.
Outside of work people should not subject themselves to noisy activities without taking steps to protect their hearing.
- NZPA
