Data analysis of hearing surveillance of 77 319 noise-exposed workers in Shenzhen City

Objective To understand the occupational health status of workers exposed to noise, and furthermore to provide orientation for prevention and control of occupational diseases.

Methods Occupational health surveillance data among workers exposed to noise in Shenzhen were collected and analyzed. The work on occupational health surveillance was performed according to the Requirements of Main Occupational Diseases Surveillance and Occupational Health Risk Assessment Program in China.

Results Totally, 77 319 workers exposed to noise were included. The detection rates of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL), the suspected occupational noise deafness, and the occupational noise deafness were 9.48%, 0.28%, 0.17%, respectively. It showed that the male had higher morbidity than the female(P < 0.05)and the workers with longer exposure time had a higher morbidity(P < 0.05). It was noted that the morbidity varied in different enterprises, in terms of scales, types of economy and industry types (P < 0.05). The morbidity in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan enterprises was lower, while morbidity in the construction industry was higher.

Conclusion The occupational hazards cannot be neglected among the workers exposed to noise in Shenzhen. It is urgent to launch special investigation and occupational disease surveillance on noise exposure enterprises, especially in the small or micro enterprises and construction enterprises, and take the targeted measures to prevent the occupational noise deafness and protect workers' health effectively.