Establishing Diagnosis of Occupational Noise-Related Hearing Disorder in Food Process Industry Worker: A Case Report

We describe a case involving a male adult experiencing mild to moderate bilateral hearing impairment, linked to excessive noise exposure at his workplace, with no notable nonoccupational noise exposure history. This situation is frequently observed in industrial production environments, yet it reflects inadequate workplace noise monitoring, contributing to oversight of hazardous conditions. The diagnosis of occupational noise-related hearing disorder (ONRHD), specifically noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), often deviates from established guidelines. Many clinicians and occupational health practitioners have misdiagnosed such cases, leading to inaccurate reporting to the Department of Safety and Health. In this study, we advocate for enhanced training of occupational health practitioners to accurately identify ONRHD, particularly NIHL, to minimise erroneous reporting of non-occupation-related cases.