Baby boomers may joke about the decibel level of those rock concerts they attended years ago, but the truth is, all those years of noise abuse are taking a toll on their hearing. Combine that with younger generations weaned on blasting iPods, and it’s no surprise that today’s employers are encountering rapidly rising rates of hearing loss in the workplace. With evidence accumulating that hearing has an important impact on productivity, it’s time for brokers to think about strategies for amplifying hearing screening and treatment benefits.
Employers need to know that hearing loss is increasingly common in the workplace. According to Sergei Kochkin, executive director of the Better Hearing Institute, “[T]here were 16.3 million people with hearing loss in the U.S. workforce in 2010. That means 60% of people with hearing loss are working. There is a lot that human resource professionals can do to help employees. The result will be improvements in both employee quality of life and in workplace productivity.”
