Theresa Y. Schulz / PhD. Lt. Col. USAF (ret.)

Of all the sounds that will delight and assail us tomorrow on Thanksgiving, what's the one that best defines the holiday for you?

If hearing protection is not convenient, workers won’t use it. Do everything to remove those barriers. For example: For workers who travel, make ear plugs and ear muffs available in the vehicle – but  also provide corded ear plugs, banded hearing protection or multiple-position ear muffs that can be worn around the neck – so they’re handy all the time. 

Demonstrating the future risks of noise-induced hearing loss is especially important for younger workers. There are a host of free materials designed to reach younger people about the value of their hearing and raise awareness of the risk and consequences of noise-induced hearing loss. The NIOSH Hearing Loss Simulator is a free program that allows demonstrations of speech and other sounds with varying degrees of hearing loss. The program is fully customizable so that you can input

Ludwig van Beethoven said, "Forgive me when you see me draw back when I would have gladly mingled with you. My misfortune is doubly painful to me because I am bound to be misunderstood; for me there can be no relaxation with my fellow men, no refined conversations, no mutual exchange of ideas. I must live almost alone, like one who has been banished; I can mix with society only as much as true necessity demands.