Evaluation of Workers’ Exposure to Occupational Noise in the Textile Industry (Case Study)

Introduction :Today’s society is more developed and industrialized, which has multiplied the sources of noise and, consequently, the increase in sound levels, becoming one of the main threatening causes for the physical, psychological, physiological and social health of workers. Noise can have consequences for human health, productivity and work performance. Objectives: to evaluate workers’ exposure to occupational noise in the textile industry. Material and Methods: In a first phase, an individual and anonymous survey was made to the workers, and in a second phase, the levels of exposure of factory workers to noise were evaluated and we carried out the selection of ear protectors in accordance with the legal assumptions. Results: The study made it possible to verify that most of the evaluated jobs were above the legal values of lower and higher share value. No worker used hear- ing protection during work activity. Workers reveal some symptomatology associ- ated with continuous exposure to occupational noise, such as tinnitus, and perceive a decrease in hearing equity associated with the number of years they were exposed in the textile industry.