The Department of Labour has a simple message to bars and nightclubs during New Zealand Safety Week – Drop the Volume!

New Zealand Safety Week is promoted each year to help raise safety awareness, and encourage increased safety behaviours.

This year the Department of Labour is highlighting the issue of workplace noise and its dangers. Exposure to loud noises at work can damage a person’s hearing. This will affect how people communicate – at work, with loved ones, and with friends.

Noise induced hearing loss also costs businesses and the country. About 4000 new serious injury claims are made to the ACC annually, which is 11 new claims for every day of the year.

The Department has a specific focus on the hospitality industry, which generally has a lower understanding of the hazards of noise.

They say people do not need to be experts to identify if noise is an issue, and to take steps to reduce the dangers of noise.

The following resources provide more information around hearing loss and the steps that businesses can take to ‘drop the volume’.

• The Department of Labour’s media release – Bars Serving up Hearing Loss to Staff Told to “Drop the Volume”
• A PowerPoint presentation – Noise Induced Hearing Loss – Drop the Volume
• Additional notes written to accompany the PowerPoint presentation
• Factsheet: Options for controlling noise in bars and clubs
• Factsheet:  Key facts about noise induced hearing loss
• Factsheet: Guide to useful resources about noise
• Case Study: A Tale of Two Cities

The Department has produced a wide range of addition publications related to noise. These can be downloaded and ordered from the Health and Safety section of the website.