Noise is one of the many negative factors that influences our health and well-being. Long-term exposure to noise can cause irreversible damage to the hearing system, such as eardrum loss in the case of short-term exposure to sound pressure peaks exceeding 130 dB, or significant damage in the form of an increase in hearing thresholds as a result of long-term exposure to noise levels exceeding 80 dB(A).
It is of particular concern to those exposed to noise in the workplace. Hearing impairment has been at the top of the list of occupational diseases for years. Every year 3000 new cases of occupational deafness are registered.

Research conducted by the Central Statistical Office on working conditions in Poland in 2020 shows that among the factors related to the work environment, the greatest threat was noise, to which 181.7 thousand people (55.1%) were exposed.

Susceptibility to the harmful effects of noise depends on hereditary and acquired characteristics and is an individual issue. Studies have been conducted to illustrate the problem of varying personal susceptibility to noise. These studies show that over a 40-year period of working in an environment where the A-weighted average sound level is 90 dB, the risk of hearing loss is 21%. Reducing the level by even 5 dB reduces this risk to 10%.

Hearing loss or damage are only some of the negative effects of noise on humans. It has been shown that exceeding a sound pressure level of 75 dB results in a marked disturbance of physiological functions, which contributes to the development of various diseases, such as pressure sickness, peptic ulcer disease, and neurosis. Weaker acoustic stimuli, with sound pressure levels of 55-75 dB(A), can cause distraction and impair performance at work.

Data taken from http://nop.ciop.pl/