Study On The Occupational Noise Exposure Status And Its Effects On Hearing Of Workers In Offshore Oil Production Facilities

Objective:By investigating the distribution characteristics of noise,workers’ occupational noise exposure status and noise protection facilities/measures in offshore oil production facilities,to study the effects of the special working mode,working environment and noise on the hearing of the workers in offshore oil production facilities.Further put forward effective prevention and control measures to control occupational noise exposure intensity of workers,so as to better protect the occupational health of workers.Methods:Forty-five offshore oil production facilities in Bohai Sea of CNOOC were randomly selected for occupational health investigation and occupational hazards detection to understand the occupational noise exposure status of workers of offshore oil production facilities.The workers’ occupational health examination data of the offshore oil production facilities during the period from January 1,2011 to December 31,2018 were followed up and investigated.Grouping according to the difference of the types of production facilities,the working age of the workers,the types of work and the levels of occupational noise exposure,combining with the noise test results and evaluation data of offshore oil production facilities,to analysis the influence of occupational noise exposure on the hearing of workers in offshore oil production facilities.Results:By analyzing the different hearing status of workers in offshore oil production facilities in 2011 and 2018,we can conclude that the binaural hearing threshold and binaural high frequency hearing threshold had changed in the past 7 years,and the mean values in 2018 were higher than those in 2011.The distribution of outdoor workers’ hearing situation in FPSO and CEP in 2011 and 2018 was different,we can conclude that the outdoor workers’ hearing situation in FPSO and CEP had changed in the past 7 years;The distribution of indoor and outdoor workers’ hearing situation in FPSO and CEP in 2018 was different;The overall mean of indoor and outdoor workers’ binaural high frequency hearing threshold in FPSO in 2018 was different,The overall mean of indoor and outdoor workers’ binaural hearing threshold and binaural high frequency hearing threshold in CEP in 2018 was different,we can conclude that the binaural hearing threshold and binaural high frequency hearing threshold of outdoor workers are higher than those of indoor workers.Because of the different nature of work and the different level of occupational noise exposure of indoor and outdoor workers,the hearing condition were different.In 2018,the hearing distribution of outdoor workers with different working age were different in FPSO and CEP;In 2018,the population mean of binaural hearing threshold and binaural high frequency hearing threshold of FPSO,CEP and WHP’ workers with different working age groups were different,we can conclude that the above indicators were higher in the longer working age group than those in the shorter working age group.Hearing loss is a cumulative process,the longer the working age(or age)and the higher the level of occupational noise exposure,the heavier the hearing loss.In 2018,the outdoor workers in different fields of FPSO and CEP had different hearing conditions.Because of the different nature of work and the different level of occupational noise exposure,the hearing situation of different types of work is also different.Because of the different types and quantities of high noise equipment on different offshore oil facilities,the time and intensity of noise exposure of the workers are different,which leads to the different hearing distribution of the workers in different production facilities.Conclusions:Noise is one of the main occupational hazards in offshore oil production facilities,and the noise produced by power plant is the main source.The different types and quantities of high noise equipment in offshore oil production facilities lead to different occupational noise exposure levels in different types of work,which further lead to different occupational health conditions.The special working environment of offshore oil production facilities leads to the special occupational health status of workers,such as many people suffer from hearing loss.The risk of hearing loss is positively correlated with the level of noise exposure.The working age and occupational noise exposure level are the variables that lead to the increase of binaural hearing threshold and binaural high frequency hearing threshold.The longer the occupational noise exposure of the workers and the greater the intensity of occupational noise exposure,the more serious of the hearing loss,which also reflects the imperfect current situation of noise prevention,control and management in offshore oil production facilities.Therefore,the key to noise prevention and control of offshore oil production facilities is to improve the rules and regulations related to occupational hazards prevention and control,do a good job in occupational health monitoring and medical security,provide targeted occupational health education and training,and appropriate(Selection can be made according to SNR values of earplugs and earmuffs)personal protective articles which in line with the characteristics of their working environment(such as spectrum characteristics),strengthen the management of occupational disease protection facilities,and do a good design of occupational disease protection facilities based on spectrum characteristics of noise equipment.