Relationship between Workplace Noise Exposure and Worker’s Communication Skills among Miners in Iran: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background and Objective: The existence of noise in the workplace is considered one of the causes of job stress. Stress can affect an individualchr('39')s communication skills. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between workplace noise and workerschr('39') communication skills. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in one of the mines in Yazd Province, Iran, in 2019. The samples of this study (n=80) were divided into two groups of exposed and control. The instruments utilized to collect the necessary data included two questionnaires, namely a demographic form and the Queendom communication skills test. Moreover, the sound measurement was performed using a noise dosimeter and sound level meter. The gathered data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 21). Results: Based on the results, the demographic characteristics of all participants showed no significant relationship with subscales and final scores of communication skills (P>0.05). Therefore, the two groups were not significantly different in this regard. However, it was revealed that communication skills had a significant relationship with the level of sound exposure in the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that an individualchr('39')s communication skills would decrease due to noise exposure. This skill is highly important in jobs and can also influence productivity and accident incidence. Consequently, it is possible to prevent workerschr('39') ability loss by reducing their exposure to noise.

Keywords

• communication skills
• miners
• stress
• workplace noise