2021-2022 Annual Reports
Posted: March 9, 2022
The 2021-2022 Annual Reports for NHCA and the NHCA Scholarship Foundation are available on the NHCA website:
NHCA Annual Report
NHCASF Annual Report
2022 Conference by the numbers
Posted: March 9, 2022
- 190 total attendees
- 27 new attendees
- 34 presentations
- 9 posters
- 9 awardees
NHCA 2022 Conference Attendees -We Need Your Vote!
Posted: March 9, 2022
Please rate the presentations so we can identify the Outstanding Lecture Award and the Outstanding Poster Award winners by March 11, 2022. Click here to rate the lectures and here to rate the posters. Your input is critical!
Short NHCA Communication Survey
- Please Help Us Serve You Better!
Posted: March 9, 2022
NHCA wants to improve its communications with you. We greatly appreciate you taking this short survey to help us know who we are serving and how we can improve your experience. This survey should take less than 5 minutes. Responses are needed by 3-18-2022. Thank you for your input!! Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VPHN2VR.
World Hearing Day 2022
Posted: March 9, 2022
On March 3, the world celebrated World Hearing Day. This year's theme was "To hear for life, listen with care!" The World Health Organization (WHO)website contains great promotional and educational materials to use on World Hearing Day and every day:
Source: WHO.int
Informational materials
https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-hearing-day/2022/information-materials
Safe Listening Handbook https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240044784
Seeking NHCA Professional
Service Provider (PSP) Delegate
Posted: March 9, 2022
The National Hearing Conservation Association is seeking a volunteer interested in serving as the PSP Delegate to the NHCA Executive Council. The PSP Delegate represents those NHCA members who provide professional hearing conservation services – most often for compliance with the Hearing Conservation Amendment to the OSHA Noise Standard (29 CFR 1910.95) and the OSHA Record-Keeping Standard (29 CFR 1904.10). The PSP Delegate serves on the Membership Services Council with the two Member Delegates, a Commercial Delegate, an Associate Delegate, and a Student Delegate. Any NHCA voting member who is interested should contact Richard Stepkin, Director of Membership, [email protected].
Hearing Research - Current Insights
Posted: March 9, 2022
 Pan, D.W., et al. (2022). Trends in Hearing Protection Use With Occupational Noise Exposure in the United States 1999 to 2016. Otology & Neurotology, 43(1), e14-e22(9). https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wk/mao/2022/00000043/00000001/art00005
- US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 to 2016 was reviewed for self-reported occupation, occupational noise exposure, hearing protector use, bothersome tinnitus, and audiometric data. Occupational noise exposure reportedly increased from the 2000s to the 2010s. Hearing protection use was reported as low (33% to 41%) across the included years. Factors associated with greater reported hearing protection use were younger age, male gender, higher education, and white race. Data for those who reported no annoying tinnitus were associated with less hearing protection use.
Federman, J.S., et al. (2002). The Effect of Using an Active Earmuff on High Frequency Hearing in United States Marine Corps Weapons Instructors. Annals of Work Exposures and Health, 66(1), 60–68. https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/66/1/60/6410506?login=true#324697501
- US Marine and civilian military weapons instructors (WIs) must hear and safely communicate while in 160 to 165 dBP noise during training on marksmanship ranges. Passive earplugs degrade auditory situational awareness and speech communication, compromising WI and Marine firer safety. Hearing protection device (HPD) comfort concerns compromise fit, use, and, consequently, protection from hazardous noise. The researchers investigated user change in compliance and active HPD use over a year by measuring high-frequency pure tone average (HF-PTA) change and self-reported physical, functional, and acoustic HPD comfort. The study control group did not use the active HPD. The active HPD group had 3 dBHL better HF-PTA than the control group after one year. Survey responses indicated perceived improved communication, safety, and auditory situational awareness during firing on the range.
Sound Postcard
Posted: March 9, 2022
“These fish languages, they really only work underwater. It's fascinating! The basic system is mouth movements and bubbles signals. At the moment, I can only make big bubbles and they keep on telling me I'm shouting.” --- The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle, by Hugh Lofting
Aquatic scientists who listen to and record underwater soundscapes with Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) hydrophones and unmanned autonomous vehicles are working to create a Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds (GLUBS). While an estimated one million animal species live in the ocean, recordings exist for only thousands. In addition to adding to our knowledge of known and unknown underwater sound sources (e.g., animal species and human activity-related noise), GLUBS may, one day, allow us to both identify the aquatic sounds we hear and discover never-before-heard sounds. NHCA members can connect hydrophones to their smartphones to listen to their local underwater communities. Many of us are bird-listeners. Now, we can fish-listen, too.
To learn more:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/17/underwater-sound-library-to-reveal-language-of-the-deep-aoe
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.810156/full
https://dosits.org/decision-makers/webinar-series/2021-webinar-series/webinar-passive-acoustic/
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