Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs
Open Access

Abstract

Mehrabad International Airport hosts about 300 flights daily, 120,000 flights annually, and a total of 8 terminals; it has the highest capacity for passenger transportation among Iranian airports. Since airport�s airside is regarded as the noisiest place, its workers are frequently affected by the noise when airplanes are landing, taking off, moving between the aprons and the taxiways, refueling, being pushed by pushbacks, etc. Apron Management Unit (AMU) is in charge of aircraft safety and passengers, after landing. In Mehrabad, the AMU has been classified into marshallers, firefighters, traffic controllers and bird hunters. This investigation aimed to evaluate the occupational hearing loss among AMUs. Noise expossure evaluation was done using sound meter based on OSHA guidelines for extended work shifts. Thirty-five (35) male operators were selected based on the inclusion criteria as: having 25-35 years of age (to exclude the presbycusis), no experience of war, explosion or working in noisy job environments, no hereditary hearing disorders, and at least 3 years of work experience as apron management operator at this airport. The annual participants� audiometric information was extracted from medical records. The measured equivalence for 8 hours� noise exposure was 94dB (A). Medical records showed that 51.4%, 5.7%, 5.7%, and 2.8% of participants had suffered mild, moderate, and severe noise-induced hearing losses, respectively. Totally,18 participants (51.4%) had hearing losses and that 38.88% of them had it in both and 61.12% in one of their ears. Due to lack of safety obligations regarding the use of ear protectors, and high workloads, regular safety oversights are strongly recommended.

Biography

Email: maryam.mostafaee@yahoo.com