Mining Publication: From Development to Evaluating Effectiveness in Industry: Building a Research Model for Noise Control Technology Efforts

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR) hearing loss research program recognizes the importance of developing effective noise controls, as well as evaluating the technology transfer and industry usage of control technologies. As a way to focus on the direct impact of NIOSH-developed control technologies on reducing noise induced-hearing loss (NIHL), a structured research model was developed to include metrics that help to more accurately evaluate and measure the effectiveness of noise control technologies. Through the development of a process model, a more structured procedure is created to analyze the effectiveness during the development, refinement, promotion, and long term evaluation stages of noise control products. The model creates a more transparent and consistent process to evaluate control technologies with metrics identified at each stage. This paper discusses the architecture of the process model and its associated metrics to reduce occupational NIHL in the mining industry. Several noise controls developed for equipment used in underground mining serve as examples to illustrate where current research gaps exist and how they are being addressed with this new model. This research structure can serve as a model for researchers and academics to assess the development, dissemination, and evaluation of noise control technologies.