New partnership expands the reach of the Safe-in-Sound Award™

Press Contact: Stephanie Stevens (202) 245-0641

New partnership expands the reach of the Safe-in-Sound Award™ 

The 2018 deadline for award nominations is July 13In 2008, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) partnered with the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) to create the Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award™.  The partnership has now been expanded to include the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC). CAOHC joins NIOSH and NHCA in honoring those that have contributed to the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus through effective practices or innovations directed to those who are exposed to noise at work. With the addition of CAOHC, the award’s outreach to stakeholders will be further strengthened.

CAOHC was formed in the mid-1960s as the Intersociety Committee on Guidelines for Noise Exposure Control. Since its formative years, the Committee encouraged the participation of multiple professional organizations with an interest in preserving the hearing of American workers. Their mission is to advance best practice in occupational hearing conservation, which is in alignment with the goals of Safe-in-Sound.

Many of the interventions described by previous winners of the award have led to elimination of the need for hearing conservation programs or to the reduction in the number of workers enrolled in these programs. In addition, the Safe-in-Sound Award has facilitated the extension of successful hearing loss prevention activities and strategies to workers not traditionally considered in typical workplace hearing loss prevention programs (e.g. musicians, military personnel, workers in services and construction).

In the 10 years of the award, information on real-world success in noise control and other interventions for hearing loss prevention have been widely disseminated through the award website (see information on  winners and the program outcomes) and other media. Online traffic to the award website has increased consistently, from 14,000 visits in 2009 to 55,000 visits in 2017.

Also new in 2018 is a streamlined nomination process and the deadline for nominations: July 13, 2018. Consider who is striving for excellence and creating innovation in their hearing loss prevention programs in your day-to-day encounters, and send an email to nominations@safeinsound.us to get a nomination started.

NIOSH is the federal institute that conducts research and makes recommendations for preventing work-related injuries and illnesses. Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by NIOSH. More information about NIOSH can be found at www.cdc.gov/niosh.