High noise exposure is anticipated to be present in the aircraft maintenance operations in civil aviation
sector. The objective of the present study is the assessment of noise exposure and hearing threshold of
the aircraft maintenance workers in this sector. Noise levels were measured in the aircraft hangers and in
the workshops at a main international airport in Saudi Arabia. Two hundred aircraft maintenance
workers were subjected to pure tone audiometry. The averageLeq,8hat most of the aircraft maintenance
operations was considerably high and most of the workers (89.5%) were exposed to noise levels85 dBA.
Frequency analysis of sound pressure levels revealed that the contribution of the octave bands 1, 2 and
4 kHz to the overall noise level was high. The audiograms of the examined workers showed significant
hearing impairment as compared to non-noise-exposed Saudi employees. Although the observed
excessive noise levels can cause hearing loss, the effect among the studied aircraft maintenance workers
was mild. This might be attributed to the usage of hearing protection devices, the intermittent nature of
the workers’ exposure to noise and job rotation. Statistical analysis revealed significant association of
both age and usage of hearing protectors with hearing loss. The effect of exposure duration on hearing
loss was also detected.
Relevance to industry:Unlike military aircraft maintenance workers, exposure of civilian workers to noise
is not sufficiently addressed. The data presented in this study may be used to set appropriate measures
for hearing protection among those workers.