Police Officers are known to have inherent dangers in their daily work – but did you know that the risk of permanent hearing loss is also one of the dangers? Firearms training, traffic work, policing of demonstrations or other crowd control can be noisy and can harm hearing immediately as well as over time.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Hearing Conservation Organization (NHCO) have partnered to create an award for Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention. In 2018, the partnership was extended to include the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC).
The award is called the Safe-In-Sound Award http://www.safeinsound.us/ which recognizes individuals “who demonstrate, by example, the benefits of developing or following good hearing loss prevention practices. Safe-in-Sound winning stories are shared and showcased at special award ceremonies and in press releases disseminated to the occupational health and hearing research communities.”
This year’s winner is Deputy Sheriff Ryan Lee Scott, a police trainer in Florida. Over the years, he has called attention to the need for police officers to have proper fitting earplugs for noise protection. He also advocates for increased training to help prevent hearing loss since hearing well is an integral part of keeping officers safe.
The Listening Stack supports hearing protection with commercial programs for businesses and government consistent with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards. The Listening Stack can provide affordable custom ear products and takes pride in providing customized earplugs for the Santa Cruz Police – those outstanding individuals who are keeping our community safe while also protecting their hearing!