Brad Witt of Howard Leight (a Honeywell Initiative) wrote an interesting blog recently about what hearing loss sounds like.
To get an idea, first read this aloud:
“Noise induced hearing loss makes understanding speech harder. You’ll first lose the ability to hear high frequencies.”
Now read this:
” Noi indue hearing loh may underdanding ee hearder. You’ll fir lew e abili-ee oo hear high re-uny”
Those are the same sentences, but the second one is closer to how the first will sound to someone with severe noise induced hearing loss.
OSHA has a new page on occupational noise exposure which has some more info on this topic.
If you need a hearing protection plan, CHESS can help.