Hearing Levels of 416 Sonar Technicians
Abstract
Audiograms for 416 sonar technicians were analyzed. Audiometric configurations were consistent with noise exposure. Nevertheless, The hearing of most sonar technicians was adequate for their job. Five percent of the sonar technicians, however, failed the Navy's hearing criteria. As some were fairly young, the hearing losses may have begun prior to their enlisting. More stringent hearing criteria should be required for selection of sonar technicians. An operator with a hearing loss could have associated impairment in frequency- and temporal- analysis abilities, which could have a large influence on sonar performance. In actual listening situations, experience may help compensate for the loss. The Navy's hearing criteria seem minimally adequate for identifying hearing losses that might lower job performance. Once hearing has exceeded criterion levels, a more direct test of auditory- sonar performance could identify those whose hearing actually does affect job performance. In order to protect the hearing of sonar technicians, better output limiting of auditory-sonar channels should be considered, but a high-fidelity signal must be maintained.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 19, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA201639
Entities
People
- Lynne Marshall
- Susan Carpenter
Organizations
- Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory