Safe-in-Sound Award

The Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award is an occupational health and safety award that was established in 2007 through a partnership between the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA). In 2018, the partnership was extended to include the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC).

This award recognizes organizations that demonstrate measurable achievements towards noise control and hearing loss prevention in the workplace. Noise-induced hearing loss is a prevalent work related illness and case studies show that substantial reductions in noise levels in the workplace can be achieved. There is low quality evidence to show that implementation of stricter legislation can reduce noise levels in workplaces and moderate quality evidence that training in the proper insertion of ear plugs significantly reduces noise exposure but controlled studies and long term follow-up studies are lacking.