If you work in an office, you may think that you have a noisy job – and admittedly, there are a number of distractions in the workplace – but once you hear about some of these eardrum-bursting careers, you’ll consider yourself lucky.
That revving printer and those non-stop ringing phones are nothing compared to these. Introducing some of the noisiest jobs in the world…
Teaching
When you were at school, you might not have realised just how loud your classroom was. In fact, you were probably one of the people contributing to the noise. Believe it or not, teaching is one of the noisiest careers you can have.
Think about it: a small classroom filled with 30 excitable children. That’s enough to give anyone a headache, and in reality, this non-stop chatting (and shouting) could actually cause damage after a while. Do you feel sorry for your past school teachers now?
Construction
Walking through the street and going past building sites can make you wince. Unfortunately, the noise of drills, hammers, machinery and other construction works can rarely be prevented. But what about the construction workers themselves?
Consider yourself lucky that it’s just something you have to put up with as you walk past on your morning commute for a week or two. Continued or prolonged exposure to these noisy power tools will have an effect on these guys, earplugs or not!
Factory worker
Another job that will have loud machinery that is almost constantly on the go is in a factory. Whilst these workers are busy working to help make our favourite foods and shopping buys, they can be suffering extreme levels of noise.
Knowing this, it will come as no surprise to you that many factory workers experience hearing loss and tinnitus as a result of this noise exposure.
Motorcycle courier
Delivery jobs that involve driving around in a car or van all day may become repetitive, but you do get the chance to have some peace and quiet, or to listen to the music of your choice (and have a private sing-along). This isn’t the case for motorcycle couriers.
Riding a motorcycle at 50mph does perhaps have more thrill-factor, however, it exposes the driver’s ears to a high level of noise underneath that helmet. In fact, it can be compared to the level of noise that Formula One drivers have to put up with.
Performer
Being a popstar or rockstar doesn’t seem like a bad life, does it? They get to play music, travel the world, and get paid a lot more than the average person. It’s the same with dancers and other musicians too. It sounds like bliss…
What you might not have realised is the damage the noise of these constant concerts, performances and rehearsals can be doing to their ears. In fact, the famous names of Will.i.am and Coldplay’s Chris Martin are among many to suffer from tinnitus.
Nightclub worker
You might have experienced a slight ringing in your ears the morning after a night out or a gig. This is a result of loud music; you’ll get it worse by standing near speakers or being right at the front by the stage.
Now think about all of those nightclub workers: the bouncers and the barmen working long night shifts. They are vulnerable to hearing problems as they are subjected to loud music for extended periods of time. Probably on top of drunk people shouting drink orders in their ears too – ouch.
Airport ground staff
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the people who direct planes when they are coming into an airport or leaving. Airport ground staff are subjected to a huge 140 decibels of sound every time a plane takes off or lands. We can tell you that is a lot of decibels.
We’ve all seen them when we’re off for our holidays, wearing their huge ear protectors. No, these are not just an ultra glamorous accessory, but a required safety feature for all airport ground crew. Even still, they don’t cut out the sound completely.
Fire-fighter
Fire-fighting, along with other emergency services, is a line of work that sees – or hears – a lot of alarms and sirens on a daily basis. The purpose of these noises are to be alarming, they are to alert workers as well as those people around them.
To us, they can almost be deafening, but they certainly do their job of keeping people out the way to ensure they can get to the emergency quickly and without obstruction.
But, what’s it like hearing this on a daily basis for extended periods of time? That, together with the loud equipment they use makes it no wonder that being a fire-fighter is one of the loudest jobs you can have.