YOUR report on hearing loss (“Fears that 15 million will lose hearing by 2035”, The Herald, November 4) should be a cause of serious concern to everyone, particularly parents, as once someone’s hearing is damaged this is generally irreparable.
I have hearing impairment, part of the ageing process, but I am astounded by the levels of noise that young people in particular subject themselves to – be it personal earphones, car radios, at home, discos and other places of “entertainment” where music is invariably being played at a level which exceeds the noise safety guidelines as spelt out by the World Health Organisation in its press release on the 27/02/15. For information this highest permissible level is 85 dB to a maximum of eight hours per day but nightclubs can often expose their patrons to higher levels and this requires a reduction in the exposure time. For example, the safety level for exposures of 100 dB is 15 minutes.
Pursuing this issue I contacted the City of Edinburgh Council, as it issues entertainment licences for such venues, and enquired what steps it took to safeguard the members of the public who attended such events.
The response was effectively – nothing. It appears that the council’s responsibility, under health
and safety legislation, stretches only to those who work in such venues and not to those who attend.
In other words – it licenses premises that may play music at a level which could permanently damage the hearing of those who attend.
Will young people take note? Most likely not – but the licensing authority certainly should, as it has the responsibility to safeguard those attending places of entertainment.
Alan McKinney,
10 Beauchamp Road, Edinburgh.
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