LIU Hu, YAN Meng-fan, NING Yu, HOU Xu-jian, HOU Bin, TANG Nai-jun. Noise exposure and hearing conditions of crew on offshore support vessels for petroleum production[J]. Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, 2019, 36(5): 474-478. DOI: 10.13213/j.cnki.jeom.2019.18687
Citation: LIU Hu, YAN Meng-fan, NING Yu, HOU Xu-jian, HOU Bin, TANG Nai-jun. Noise exposure and hearing conditions of crew on offshore support vessels for petroleum production[J]. Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, 2019, 36(5): 474-478. DOI: 10.13213/j.cnki.jeom.2019.18687

Noise exposure and hearing conditions of crew on offshore support vessels for petroleum production

  • Background Ship noise may jeopardize the work routine and rest of the crew, and even result in permanent hearing impairment.

    Objective This study is conducted to investigate the noise exposure and its effects on hearing of crew on offshore support vessels for petroleum production, and provide data for formulating noise control measures for this occupation.

    Methods Twenty-five offshore support vessels (including 4 geophysical survey ships, 10 installation ships, and 11 stand-by ships) of China National Offshore Oil Corporation were selected for on-site occupational health investigation and detection in 2017. A total of 454 crew members (including 150 machinists, 150 second/third/fourth engineers, and 154 boatswains/sailors) were identified and their annual occupational health examination reports were retrieved to analyze occupational noise exposure level and hearing level.

    Results The 40-hour equivalent sound levels were 82.2-99.2 dB(A) for the machinists and engineers, and 70.1-81.3 dB(A) for the boatswains/sailors on three kinds of selected offshore support vessels. Significant differences in 40-hour equivalent sound level, binaural low-frequency hearing threshold, and binaural high-frequency hearing threshold were found among the three types of crew on both geophysical survey ships and installation ships (P < 0.05); on the stand-by ships, there were significant differences in 40-hour equivalent sound level and binaural high-frequency hearing threshold (P < 0.05), but not in binaural low-frequency hearing threshold (P > 0.05) among the three types of crew. By multiple linear regression analysis, occupational noise exposure level and working age were the two explanatory variables for binaural low-and high-frequency hearing thresholds (P < 0.05).

    Conclusion The crew at different posts on different types of offshore support vessels are exposed to varied noise levels and show varied hearing levels. Occupational noise exposure level and working age are the possible factors for binaural low-frequency and high-frequency hearing thresholds.

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