Private industry workers suffered 14,500 hearing loss cases in 2019

There were 14,500 work-related hearing loss illness cases in 2019. They occurred at a rate of 1.4 cases per 10,000 full-time workers. These cases accounted for 11.4 percent of the 127,200 private industry illness cases. Ten years earlier, 11.7 percent of private industry illness cases were due to hearing loss illnesses (19,500 cases), and they occurred at a rate of 2.2 per 10,000 full-time workers.

Of the 14,500 hearing loss illness cases in private industry, 75.9 percent (11,000 cases) occurred in the manufacturing industry. Of those 11,000 cases, 18.2 percent occurred in transportation equipment manufacturing (2,000 cases), 16.4 percent in food manufacturing (1,800 cases), and 12.7 percent in fabricated metal product manufacturing (1,400 cases).

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. The Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses relies on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s recordkeeping guidelines These guidelines determine occupational hearing loss by comparing a baseline hearing test to one following the injury or illness in the workplace.