Monitoring Occupational Noise Exposure in Firefighters Using the Apple Watch

Abstract

Occupational noise exposure and hearing loss are prominent in the fire service. Firefighters are routinely exposed to hazardous levels of noise arising from the tools and equipment they use, from sirens and alarm tones to the emergency response vehicles they drive. The present study utilized the Apple Watch to continuously measure environmental noise levels for on-duty firefighters. Participants included 15 firefighters from the metropolitan South Florida area, and 25 adult non-firefighter control subjects. Firefighters were recruited from a variety of roles across two stations to ensure noise exposure profiles were appropriately representative of exposures in the fire service. All participants wore an Apple Watch for up to three separate 24 h shifts and completed a post-shift survey self-reporting on perceived exposures over the 24 h study period. Cumulative exposures were calculated for each shift and noise dose was calculated relative to the NIOSH recommended exposure limit of 85 dBA as an 8 h time-weighted average. The maximum dBA recorded on the Apple Watches was statistically significant between groups, with firefighters experiencing a median of 87.79 dBA and controls a median of 77.27 dBA. Estimated Exposure Time at 85 dBA (EET-85) values were significantly higher for firefighters when compared to controls: 3.97 h (range: 1.20–14.7 h) versus 0.42 h (range: 0.05–8.21 h). Only 2 of 16 firefighters reported the use of hearing protection devices during their shifts. Overall, our results highlight the utility of a commonly used personal device to quantify noise exposure in an occupationally at-risk group.