Hearing loss in the workplace: What’s in the news? (28 March-3 April)

 If you’re busy trying to juggle work and home life, then you might not have had time to catch up on  the news and social media this week.   Whilst its been a bit of a quiet week this week, here’s my roundup as usual of the highlights from my timelines, that should bring you up to date.  

Adult Hearing Screening: Can we afford to wait any longer?

I highlighted this report last week, but it was still getting a lot of attention this week too. The report followed an Ear Foundation conference in London on the subject of Adult Hearing Screening.  The conference also served to launch a new report on the subject which wasn’t available at the time of writing, but it was made available the day after.  A series of tweets summarising the key messages from the conference is also available here on the Ear Foundation twitter feed.

Musicians and Noise Exposure 

A couple of articles caught my eye this week from the world of musicians.  This first one from Hearing Health and Technology Matters highlights the dangers facing rock musicians and describes the benefits of in-the-ear monitors and provides some good tips on musicianrs’ hearing conservation.

This second article published by BBC news highlights the risk of hearing loss for those playing in orchestra pits too.

HSBC introduce a BSL Video Relay Service

This week, the HSBC bank introduced a new BSL video relay service.  This link takes you to a short video giving more details about the service which is available Monday-Friday 8am-6pm (excluding Bank and Public Holidays) and is free from your home computer or mobile device.  Access to the website is available at hsbc.co.uk/accessibility 

Limping Chicken: 12 tips to help hearing people communicate with deaf people

Yet another excellent blog post from Limping Chicken offering advice on communication.  These would be really helpful to share not only with family and friends, but importantly with your boss and colleagues to ensure your communication at work is as effective as possible.

Audiology Worldnews: Hearing aids lead to better quality of life

Audiology Worldnews reports on the latest Eugotrak UK survey of 15,000 people.  The survey covers a range of issues including how hearing aid users feel about their job.  They found that “81% of working hearing aid owners state that their hearing aids are useful for their job. They also recognise that hearing aids increase the chance of them getting promoted, being in the right job and getting more salary compared to those hearing impaired people who have not obtained hearing aids.”

New Career and Volunteer opportunities

Some weeks I occasionally spot career and volunteering opportunities which I’ll post here from time to time.  This week’s opportunities include:

• Customer Services Advisor (for NDCS) 
• Numerous volunteering opportunities across the country (with Action on Hearing Loss)
• International funding and strategic partnership development manager with NDCS
• Various posts at Hearing Dogs for Deaf People including dog trainers, fundraising managers and a media and campaigns manager

 Key Diary Dates

Finally, here are some dates for your diary. If you know of any other key events that I’ve missed, then let me know and I’ll include them next time.

Audiology Now! – 13-16 April

Described as the largest gathering of audiologists in the world, AudiologyNOW! 2016 is the American Academy of Audiology’s annual convention and expo and takes place in Pheonix Arizona.

Co-designing wearable health technologies – 14 April

This sounds like a great workshop in the Australian Design Centre, Sydney Australia.  Supported by a hearing expert, and working in small groups, participants will learn how to use co-design techniques to generate approaches to the development of technologies to better address real-world health issues. Ideas will be explored through drawing, film, photography and modelling, giving the audience an enriching, hands-on experience.

British Society of Audiology – annual conference – 25-27 April

This is the leading UK scientific forum for clinicians and researchers who have an interest in hearing, tinnitus and balance.

Molecular Biology of Hearing and Deafness – 17-20 May

The 10th Molecular Biology of Hearing and Deafness conference takes place in Cambridge, England and will be looking at recent discoveries in the field including new genes involved in deafness and new pathways that underlie the development, function, repair and regeneration of the auditory system. There will also be a strong focus on approaches, currently being developed, for treating or preventing deafness caused by noise, drugs and mutations.

Hearing Loss Association of America: 2016 Convention 23-26 June

The Hearing Loss Association of America has announced the details of its convention for 2016 which will be held in Washington, DC between 23-26 June.  It looks like an interesting programme.

The Third International Meeting on Internet & Audiology – 27-28 July 2017

This is a free conference being held at the University of Louisville, Kentucky.  Looking at last year’s programme (which can be found on the webpage), it looks like there could be some really interesting presentations and discussions.

Association of Speech Language Interpreters (ASLI) – annual conference on 1-2 October 

The next ASLI conference will be held on 1-2 October in Newcastle upon Tyne . Check out ASLI’s webpage for their call for abstracts along with details of the conference theme and venue.