P. Sakunkoo and P.

Kittikong / EnvironmentAsia 12(3) (2019) 151-158

EnvironmentAsia 12(3) (2019) 151-158

EnvironmentAsia
The international journal by the Thai Society of Higher Education Institutes on Environment
DOI 10.14456/ea.2019.55
ISSN 1906-1714; ONLINE ISSN: 2586-8861

Hearing Capacity, Noise Level Exposure and Health Effects in Workers

of Pulp and Paper Plant, Khon Kaen Province

Pornpun Sakunkoo* and Patthamaporn Kittikong

Department of Environmental Health, Occupational Health and Safety,

Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University, Thailand

* Corresponding author : [email protected]

Received: September 22, 2018; Revised: January 8, 2019; Accepted: June 20, 2019

Abstract
Hearing loss is one of the diseases from working. This study examined the worker’s hearing capacity,
health effect, frequency and sound level in each department and the relationship between sound
level and hearing capacity of the pulp and paper plant’s employees. A sample was selected from
207 cases, 8 departments from January to March 2018. The apparatuses were sound level meter
and questionnaires. The findings indicated samples were male workers, 98.70% ages between
30 and 39 that worked in production and 58.94% of workers have worked for 5-10 years. The
hearings of samples 73.91% were normal. The highest frequency of irregular hearing (4000-6000
Hz.) estimated 59.26 during working showed that 57.49% of workers have headache (72.46%),
stress (35.75%) and mishearing (32.85%). Sound level in the workplace approximated 75.5-89.2
dB(A), found at 1000-2000 Hz. that no exceed standards. Sound level and hearing capacity of
workers considerably related in statistic (ORadj= 4.12; 95%CI:(1.59-10.71)). For the purpose that
careful monitoring hearing capacity and the sound level effect of workers by monitor hearing in
order for reducing the initial risk of losing hearing performance and the organization should set
up hearing conservation program to prevent loss of hearing.

Keywords: Hearing capacity; Noise level; Worker; Pulp; Paper

1. Introduction result in decrease of work ability’s workers such

as communication skill.
There are a lot of noise pollution that lead The main cause of Hearing loss is working
to hearing performance and health of workers in a noisy area and in Thailand; Hearing
decrease. Sound is an important ambiance loss is one of the diseases from working.
during working and danger of sound can cause Five Main diseases surveillance of Bureau of
stress, loss of hearing and distracting as well. In Epidemiology B.E.2546-2552 Physical hazard
addition, Noise exposure for long time can be health from working and surrounding found
hearing impairment that from the information that 60.2% were hearing loss cause by noise. In
of World Health Organization (2015) revealed 2018, there were 42,946 hearing loss ’s patient
that 360 million of world populations have from 76 provinces moreover, from statistics
hearing impairment cause by noise 5% that of victim and illness from working B.E. 2554-

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2558 revealed that 101 patients were Deafness data.

syndrome. - Questionnaire from workers that
In Thailand, the pulp and paper industrial thoroughly went over from three professional
is significantly increase for conforming to highly divided by 2 sections first is general information
demand that caused by economic growth as of workers and second is effect of health from
same as foreign countries. In Khon Kaen, there noise pollution, for quality control there are two
has a big pulp and paper industrial that produces expert contents for editing questionnaire.
and sell such as Packaging paper that is an
important material for production including 2.4 Statistical analysis
pulp and paper. In the production methods, D es cr ipt ive St at ist ics i l lust rate d
there are many sort of machines that always information, amount, percentage, maximum-
generate noise pollution along with the worker minimum, average and standard deviation.
can be a hearing loss patient. There are a lot Inferential Statistics used Binary logistic
of researches about employee’s prevalence of regression by Univariate analysis and presented
pulp and paper plant found that Sensorineural odds ratio (OR), Adjusted odds ratio (AOR)
hearing loss approximated 17.4% from noise as well as 95 (95%; CI) of reliability at 0.05
exposure for a long time but, in Thailand, considerable statistics level analyzed by Stata
There have not had study about health effect 10.1.
from noise pollution in pulp and paper plant
therefore the study interested in studying 2.5 Ethical consideration
hearing capacity, health effect from sound, The trial was approved by the Khon
frequency and sound level of pulp and paper Kaen University Ethics Committee for Human
plant’s worker in Khon Kaen. Research (Reference Number: HE 612260),
2018.
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results and Discussion
2.1 Study design
A Cross-sectional descriptive study A sample was selected from 207 cases
population is all of pulp and paper plant’s that most of the samples were male workers
workers by using Stratified Random Sampling approximately 203 cases (98.70%) and 4 cases
totally 286 workers, 8 departments from January of female (1.93%). The average age of samples
to March 2018. is 40.58 (S.D=9.51) from diploma 62.32%.
Most of worker work in pulp production
2.2 Sample size department, 20.29%, and next is raw materials
There were 207 samples from 8 departments preparation about 13.53%.
including raw materials preparation, monitoring According to a Characteristic of work,
and maintenance, pulp production, paper workers control a production process and
production, instant production, maintenance machine all the time (58.94%) and normally
electricity-paper, maintenance electricity- working (45.41%). The average of work
pulp and maintenance electricity-Energy and experience is 16.72 years (S.D=8.97) and working
Environment as well. per day approximates 7.98 h, (S.D=0.84) that
less than 8 hours accounted for 98.07 percent
2.3 Tools and 59.90 percent of working age in department
- Audiometer, VOYAGER 552 5-10 years which are shown in the following
- Sound level meter: SLM, NL-21 Serial table1
No.: 00398417 (Meter), 124757 (Microphone), Studying hearing capacity of 207 samples
30079 (Pre-amplifier), calibrate at the laboratory indicated that normal hearing accounted for
by calibrator (94 dB(A)). 73.91% and 26.09 of unusual that had either of
- Measurement frequency and sound level two unusual 66.69% and also found at 4000-

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Table 1. Represents number and percent of general information

6000 Hz (59.26%) which are shown in the consecutively.

following Table 2. After working, sound level influenced
From hearing capacity effects of samples health therefore there had stress (19.81%),
found the symptoms from sound exposure in headache (19.32%) and Tinnitus (17.39%)
each period of time as follows at none working which are shown in the following Table 3.
period accounted for 64.25% and found some Studying frequency and sound level in
symptoms including stress (15.46%), mishear each department and the results of sound
when communicating (12.56%) and also level measurement by noise measurement
stomach ache (13.53%). 8 departments (30 points) indicated that
During working, sound level influenced department that had the highest average noise
health approximately 57.49% were headache, (Leq) were maintenance electricity-energy
stress as well as mishear, 72.46, 35.75, and 32.85 and environment approximately 89.2 dB(A),

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raw materials preparation, maintenance Environment that had high average frequency
electricity-pulp and maintenance electricity- level at 1000 Hz. As follows 79.0 dB(A), 76.2
paper department, average noise were 85.6, 85.1, dB(A), 67.9 dB(A), 73.8 dB(A) and 82.0 dB(A).
85.2 dB(A). In part of maintenance department, paper
An average f re quenc y le vel in 8 production and, maintenance electricity-paper
departments found high average frequency had the highest average frequency level at 2000
level at 1000-2000 Hz. There were raw materials Hz, as follows 64.9 dB(A), 80.1 dB(A) and 78.3
preparation department, pulp production, dB(A).
instant production, maintenance electricity-
pulp and maintenance electricity-Energy and
Table 2. Hearing capacity of workers

Table 3. Amount and percentage of health effect from sound exposure

Table 4. Gave an information of relationship between sound level and hearing capacity’s workers

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Studying a relationship between sound approximately 1.93%. According to hearing

level and hearing capacity’s workers found capacity, The samples accounted for 73.91%
that testing relation between sound level and had normal hearing capacity as well as 26.09%
hearing capacity’s workers by using Multiple of abnormal and types of abnormality were
logistic regression analysis considerably had the unusual either of two (66.67%), abnormality at
relationship between sound level and hearing high frequency (59.26%) and both abnormality
capacity (Adjusted OR= 4.12; 95%CI=(1.59- at high frequency and standard frequency of
10.71)) therefore, the workers that had sound talking (35.19%). From the previous researches
level exposure ≥ 85 dB(A) risk to 4.12 times. revealed that there were a lot of hearing capacity
Once compared with a sample at lower than 85 problems in industrial sector that conformed to
dB(A) of sound level exposure shown in Table the study of hearing capacity’s workers in sugar
4. industry (Tarnpeam et al., 2007) and accounted
for 34.32 of abnormal hearing capacity’s workers
4. Conclusions in granite factory (Jolanun et al., 2006) Found
the results of hearing capacity loss around 40%
The group of samples that participated in at high frequency that was not more than 50%
this study were 207 persons and most of and the causes of these problems were hearing
samples were male, approximately 98.70%. capacity loss at initial stage at high frequency
Due to the fact that there is a large industries, and hearing capacity loss at low frequency.
There used a lot of machines thus male Labor studying in (Masterson et al., 2007) show
workers were crucially used to monitor and some problem of hearing which had a ringing
maintenance including their figure that suit to in the ear and hard to listen respectively by
work in those departments more than women, 15% and 23% as well as studying at pulp and

Figure 1. Illustrated sound level measurement in 8 departments

Figure 2. Shows an average sound level measurement in 8 departments

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paper- factory in South Africa (Viljoen et al., dB(A) because in this division, there are many
2007) found 18% of hearing capacity loss that workers more than machines that caused sound
always found at Maintenance department. In average in this division was less than others.
addition studying from other research found the In case of average frequency measurement
hearing capacity loss’s trend that considerably revealed that every division complied with the
increase and from this study found 26.09% of standard according to specified regulations and
hearing capacity loss because of sound exposure conformed to noise pollution study (Menchai
for long time and also ignore to use safety device et al., 2010). Measurement in working area by
including exposure at high frequency which using Sound level meter: SLM at Bis pipe fitting
affects to auditory system therefore, This is the industry measured and compared with Ministry
reason choosing to studied in this factory (noisy of industry announcement found that average
from machine). From observation, behavior sound levels was 81.0 – 98.1 dB (A) and also
of sound protection was one of the important found some case study of hearing capacity loss
results that cause hearing capacity loss thus; at manufacturer of Rubber wood (Kongthong et
entrepreneur must revise risk assessment and al., 2007). Measured sound level by using Sound
protection measures as well as investigated level meter and compared with standard as
cause of hearing capacity loss (Suthamasa et al., well. Sound frequency study at cement factory
2008). Furthermore, the research finding some in China (Cafeng et al., 2012) found sound
strategy which had high efficiency protection of frequency as same as this study and all the
hearing capacity loss was systematical revision results of measurement was more than 85 dB(A)
in interference efficiency for protecting hearing since sorts of industries had noise pollution
capacity loss from working (Morata et al., 2016) but, study in Ghana (Gyamfi et al., 2016) found
Health effects from sound exposure of measurement by isolation machines in Mining
samples conformed to study in workers at industries had sound level between 85 to 103
compressor motor industry that had health dB(A) that was different from previous study as
effects from sound exposure such as headache, earlier studies were sound level measurement at
Insomnia (Chairut et al., 2012) and also surrounding during working along with from
conformed to Health assessment of workers academic study found some sound control idea
who work at plastic plant, can factory, food (Suthamasa, et al., 2008) by the best method
industry, and cutting tools manufactory finding was sound control at source by engineering
noise pollution during working that cause stress methods and next, control at bypass of sound
(Omari et al., 2013). In addition, High heart and the last one, workers control respectively
rate and high blood pressure was one of the together with factory had sound level control
sound exposure effects in automotive industry at sound sources and other protect.
(Kalantary et al., 2015). The relationship between sound level and
Sound levels and frequency in each division hearing capacity of workers in pulp and paper
and sound measurement at factory totally factory revealed that sound levels considerably
measured 8 divisions and the highest sound had relation with hearing capacity in statistic
average (Leq) was maintenance electricity- (Adjusted OR= 4.12, 95%CI= 1.59-10.71) that
Energy and Environment at 89.2 dB(A) that conformed to study of relation in woven factory
conformed to department of Labour Protection (Jamarikan et al., 1997) found a relation between
and welfare standard of criterion and sound hearing capacity loss and sound exposure in
conservation project method at industry B.E statistical significance (P-value=0.00018). Study
2553. Department of Labour Protection and in Metal industry (Whittaker et al., 2014) found
welfare allocated if average sound level for 8 the same result that sound level had relation
hours a day more than 85 dB(A) , employer must with hearing capacity of employee, comparing
set up hearing conservation project in factory. with control group (OR=10.3). From study in
The division that had the lowest sound average melt metal industry (Singhapoom et al., 2013)
(Leq) was finished product division at 75.5 found that workers that exposure with sound at

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< 85 dB(A) and ≥85 dB(A) did not have relation Acknowledgements
with hearing capacity loss (P-value=0.281) this
might cause by limit data collection because the Thank you for KKU research funding,
samples that received sound at > 85 dB(A) used laboratory staffs, faculty of Public Health, Khon
personal protection device this is the reason, Kaen University. We very much appreciate
why sound exposure did not affect hearing and deeply grateful for your kind assistance
capacity. and apparatus, Sound level meter: SLM.
Thank you to factory director and all workers
5. Research limitations that participated in this research including
questionnaires.
Auditing hearing capacity loss of workers
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