ASSESSMENT OF HEARING LOSS RISK DUE TO OCCUPATIONAL AND NON-OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO NOISE
Loud noise in the workplace is a common occurrence in the labor market. Prolonged exposure to excessive noise can lead to hearing lossand the development of occupational disease. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of occupational noise exposure on the occurrence of hearing lossamong workers exposed to hazardous noise levels in the workplace and to determine the extent to which non-occupational noise exposure contributes to overall exposure and the development of occupational hearing loss. Hearing assessment was performed using subjective audiological testingpure-tone audiometry, on a sample of 72 participants. The results revealed a significant risk of hearing lossamong workers exposed to workplace noise (χ²=72.688, df=10, p=0.000<0.001). Itwas found that the degree of hearing lossincreased with the duration of work in noisy environments (t=14.449, df=70, p<0.001). No statistically significant association was found between non-occupational noise exposure and changes in the degree of hearingloss, indicating that noise outside the workplace does not represent a significant predictor of the occurrence or progression of hearing loss.Key words: occupational noise, non-occupational noise, hearing loss.