55.84% of US mining workers reported noise exposure at work in the past 12 months, against 15.79% across all industries (NIOSH, Masterson et al., Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2025, NHIS 2023 data). The damage builds with every shift: hearing loss prevalence among noise-exposed miners climbs from 2.24% at ages 18 to 25 to 53.46% at ages 56 to 65 (NIOSH, Lawson et al., American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2019). Even after MSHA’s 2000 noise rule cut the share of inspector samples above the permissible exposure level from 23.5% to 7.0%, underground coal barely moved, from 15.2% to 14.7% (Roberts, Sun and Neitzel, International Journal of Audiology 2017). We aggregated data from NIOSH’s Pittsburgh Mining Research Division, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the National Health Interview Survey, peer-reviewed journals including the Noise Control Engineering Journal and the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, and researchers and industry bodies in South Africa, China, Australia and Ghana. For the wider occupational picture, compare this roundup with our manufacturing noise exposure statistics and construction worker hearing loss statistics.
TL;DR
- 55.84% of US mining workers were noise-exposed in the past 12 months vs 15.79% of all workers (NIOSH, Masterson et al., JOEM 2025)
- 76% of mine workers are exposed to hazardous noise, the highest of any major industry (NIOSH Mining Program, Hearing Loss topic page)
- Jumbo drill operation averaged 103.0 ± 0.8 dBA in a deep shaft mine (Lutz et al., JOEH 2015)
- Continuous mining machines accounted for 35% of underground coal noise overexposures in 2000-2005 MSHA data (NIOSH, Michael et al., NCEJ 2011)
- The share of MSHA noise samples above the PEL fell from 23.5% before 2000 to 7.0% after (Roberts, Sun and Neitzel, IJA 2017)
- Hearing loss affects 53.46% of noise-exposed miners aged 56 to 65 vs 2.24% at 18 to 25 (NIOSH, Lawson et al., AJIM 2019)
- 25.6% of coal mines and 14.7% of non-coal mines were cited at least once under Part 62 in 2000-2014 (NIOSH, Sun and Azman, JOEH 2018)
- Haul truck fan and barrier controls cut operator noise by 9 dB, stretching time to reach the PEL from 1.6 to 5.1 hours (NIOSH, Peterson, NCEJ 2018)
- Hearing protection non-use among noise-exposed mining workers fell from 42.76% in 2007 to 28.36% in 2014 (NIOSH, Green et al., AJIM 2021)
- South African mine NIHL cases are down only 55% since 2015, vs 78% for tuberculosis (Minerals Council South Africa, 2025)
- 81.7% of drilling positions in China’s mining industry exceeded the noise limit in 2023 (Pan et al., 2025)
1. How Many Miners Are Exposed to Hazardous Noise
Mining is not a sector with a noise problem in a few loud corners. At 55.84% versus 15.79%, mining workers were about 3.5 times as likely as the average US worker to report noise exposure in the past year (55.84 divided by 15.79 = 3.54), according to the 2023 National Health Interview Survey analysed by NIOSH researchers in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Noise also rarely arrives alone underground: more than a third of mining workers reported both noise and ototoxic chemicals, a combination that compounds the risk to the inner ear.
The second half of the table matters as much as the first. Noise is usually framed as a slow hearing problem, but two 2022 studies tie it to injuries and deaths. Loud shifts mask warnings, reversing alarms and the sound of moving machinery, which is exactly what the NIOSH Mining Program flags as a safety hazard beyond hearing loss itself.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mining workers noise-exposed at work, past 12 months (2023) | 55.84% (all industries: 15.79%) | NIOSH, Masterson et al., JOEM 2025 (NHIS 2023) |
| Mining and oil and gas extraction (NAICS 21) workers noise-exposed, past 12 months | 52.33% | NIOSH, Masterson et al., JOEM 2025 (NHIS 2023) |
| Mining workers ever exposed to noise at work | 65.52% (all industries: 28.01%) | NIOSH, Masterson et al., JOEM 2025 (NHIS 2023) |
| Mining workers exposed to both noise and ototoxic chemicals, past 12 months | 37.27% (all industries: 7.01%) | NIOSH, Masterson et al., JOEM 2025 (NHIS 2023) |
| Mine workers exposed to hazardous noise | 76%, highest of any major industry | NIOSH Mining Program, Hearing Loss topic page |
| Mine workers with a hearing problem | About 1 in 4 | NIOSH Mining Program, Hearing Loss topic page |
| Reported injuries attributable to full-shift exposure at or above 88 dBA (10 US surface mine sites) | 20.3% (95% CI: 11.2%, 29.3%) | Shkembi et al., Annals of Work Exposures and Health 2022 |
| Fatality rate associated with each 5 dB increase in time-weighted average noise, US mining 1983-2014 | 1.48 (1.23, 1.78) times higher | Shkembi et al., American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2022 |
Context note: the three exposure figures (55.84%, 76% and the older 61% estimate discussed in the Methodology section) use different definitions and survey years, so they are not a time series. The surface-mine injury study is cross-sectional and the 1983-2014 fatality analysis is ecological, so both show association, not proof of cause.
2. Equipment Sound Levels: Drills, Bolters, Haul Trucks and Screens
The loudest underground tasks sit roughly 10 to 14 dB above the 90 dBA permissible exposure level, and under MSHA’s 5 dB exchange rate that gap is brutal. Allowed time halves for every 5 dB: 8 hours at 90 dBA becomes 4 hours at 95 dBA, 2 hours at 100 dBA and 1 hour at 105 dBA, the level where MSHA requires dual hearing protection. A jumbo drill operator measured at 103.0 ± 0.8 dBA therefore uses up a full daily dose in well under two hours of drilling.
Machine shares tell a different story from machine loudness. An overexposure count reflects both how loud a machine is and how many people run it, so the continuous miner, the core cutting machine on many underground coal sections, can lead the list without posting the highest sound level. NIOSH’s roof bolter isolator study and its haul truck and LHD study trace the dominant sources to drilling on bolters and to the engine compartment and cooling fan on trucks, with the exhaust described as insignificant.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Roof bolter drilling, sound level at operator position | 100 dBA at 9.4 kN thrust; 104 dBA at 22 kN thrust | NIOSH, Michael et al., Noise Control Engineering Journal 2011 |
| Jumbo drill operation, deep shaft underground mine | 103.0 ± 0.8 dBA | Lutz et al., Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 2015 |
| Bench blowing / mucking, same mine | 103.5 ± 0.9 dBA / 99.6 ± 4.7 dBA | Lutz et al., Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 2015 |
| Horizontal vibrating screens, coal preparation plants | 90-95 dB (clean bituminous coal); 95-100 dB (refuse and anthracite) | NIOSH, Lowe et al., Noise Control Engineering Journal 2013 |
| Haul truck (under 15 tons) and LHD (under 5 cubic yards) operators, average exposure | Above 200% of the MSHA PEL | NIOSH, Peterson, Noise Control Engineering Journal 2018 |
| Haul truck and LHD operator exposures above the PEL in NIOSH surveys | Greater than 90% | NIOSH, Peterson, Noise Control Engineering Journal 2018 |
| Share of underground coal noise overexposures by machine, MSHA data 2000-2005 | Continuous miner 35%; bulldozer 24%; roof bolter 17%; front end loader 8%; shuttle car 6% | NIOSH, Michael et al., Noise Control Engineering Journal 2011 |
| Longwall shearer operators overexposed in US coal mines, 2002-2011 | Approximately 48% | NIOSH, Camargo et al., Noise Control Engineering Journal 2016 |
Most recent available data: NIOSH machine-level measurements published between 2011 and 2018, and a 2015 single-mine study for jumbo drills. MSHA has not published an equipment-by-equipment overexposure table since. The Lutz study covered 22 miners over 56 rotating shifts, so its task levels describe one shaft-sinking operation, not the industry.
3. Overexposure Under MSHA 30 CFR Part 62
30 CFR 62.101 sets the permissible exposure level at an 8-hour time-weighted average of 90 dBA and the action level at 85 dBA. The 2000 rule worked on the surface and in metal and nonmetal mines. Underground coal is the exception: 15.2% of samples exceeded the PEL before the rule and 14.7% after, in the 35-year dataset of over 700,000 MSHA inspector measurements analysed by Roberts, Sun and Neitzel.
The action-level data show how thin the margin is. Nearly half of underground coal action-level samples after 2000 were above 85 dBA, which means a large share of the workforce is one longer shift or one worn component away from crossing the line. The same rule change was associated with 0.49 (0.34, 0.71) times lower fatality rates in the US mining ecological study cited in section 1, a reminder that hearing conservation programs travel with broader safety gains.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| MSHA PEL / action level (8-hour TWA) | 90 dBA (100% dose) / 85 dBA (50% dose), 5 dB exchange rate | 30 CFR 62.101 |
| MSHA samples above the PEL, before vs after the 2000 rule (1979-2014) | 23.5% vs 7.0% | Roberts, Sun and Neitzel, International Journal of Audiology 2017 |
| Underground coal samples above the PEL, before vs after 2000 | 15.2% vs 14.7% | Roberts, Sun and Neitzel, International Journal of Audiology 2017 |
| Underground metal samples above the PEL, before vs after 2000 | 44.8% vs 17.4% | Roberts, Sun and Neitzel, International Journal of Audiology 2017 |
| Underground coal action-level measurements above 85 dBA, post-2000 | 48.4% | Roberts, Sun and Neitzel, International Journal of Audiology 2017 |
| Roof bolters, mean PEL-integrated exposure, before vs after 2000 | 90.2 dBA vs 86.0 dBA | Roberts, Sun and Neitzel, International Journal of Audiology 2017 |
| Coal preparation plant employees overexposed to noise (NIOSH study) | 43.5% | NIOSH, Lowe et al., Noise Control Engineering Journal 2013 |
| Measurements still exceeding the PEL in coal and metal/nonmetal mines | About 10% | NIOSH, Sun and Azman, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 2018 |
Most recent available data: MSHA inspector samples through 2014. The overall 7.0% figure is labelled inconsistently in the source (text vs table column), so treat it as approximate.
4. Hearing Loss Among Miners by Age and Subsector
Age is where cumulative dose becomes visible. Prevalence roughly doubles between the 36-45 band (17.21%) and the 46-55 band (34.87%), and passes half of all workers at ages 56 to 65 (53.46%), in NIOSH’s review of audiograms from 9,389 noise-exposed mining workers, published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Hearing loss here means a pure-tone average of 25 dB or more across 1, 2, 3 and 4 kHz in either ear, so these are material losses, not borderline readings.
The subsector split is a surprise for anyone who pictures underground coal as the worst case. Construction sand and gravel, a mostly surface business, posted the highest prevalence in the dataset. For how these occupational losses layer on top of normal ageing, see our presbycusis progression statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hearing loss prevalence, noise-exposed mining workers (2006-2015) | 24.06% (all industries: 16.20%) | NIOSH, Lawson et al., AJIM 2019 |
| Prevalence, ages 18-25 / 26-35 / 36-45 | 2.24% / 6.02% / 17.21% | NIOSH, Lawson et al., AJIM 2019 |
| Prevalence, ages 46-55 / 56-65 / 66-75 | 34.87% / 53.46% / 68.31% | NIOSH, Lawson et al., AJIM 2019 |
| Construction sand and gravel mining, hearing loss prevalence | 35.63% | NIOSH, Lawson et al., AJIM 2019 |
| Mine workers with a hearing impairment by mid-60s retirement age | About 4 in 5 | NIOSH Mining Program, Hearing Loss topic page |
| Australian male coal mine workers with a 4 kHz audiometric notch (64,196 audiograms) | 14.8-20.1% | Liebenberg et al., International Journal of Audiology 2021 |
Most recent available data: NIOSH, 2019 (audiograms from 2006 to 2015). Bituminous underground coal had no workers in the NIOSH sample, so the environment behind most of the equipment data in sections 2 and 3 is missing from this prevalence dataset. The Australian study found clinically significant losses concentrated in workers aged 45 to 60.
5. MSHA Noise Citations, Enforcement and Claims
Enforcement data say as much about where inspectors look as about where noise is. Coal mines drew 3.6 Part 62 violations per 100 inspections, nearly double the 1.9 at stone, sand and gravel operations, and 74.0% of coal noise citations were for exceeding the PEL itself, according to the NIOSH analysis of 2000-2014 MSHA citations. Larger coal mines were cited far more often than small ones.
Noise also stays out of the headline enforcement lists. In MSHA’s ranking of the most frequently cited standards for 2025, no Part 62 standard reached the top 10, which is dominated by moving machine parts, combustible accumulations and housekeeping. The cost side shows up later, in workers’ compensation claims filed years after exposure.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mines cited at least once under Part 62, 2000-2014 | Coal 25.6%; non-coal 14.7% | NIOSH, Sun and Azman, JOEH 2018 |
| Part 62 violations per 100 inspections | Coal 3.6 ± 1.2; metal/nonmetal 2.7 ± 1.0; stone, sand and gravel 1.9 ± 0.9 | NIOSH, Sun and Azman, JOEH 2018 |
| PEL (62.130) share of coal Part 62 citations | 74.0% (4,045 citations) | NIOSH, Sun and Azman, JOEH 2018 |
| Coal mines with 500 or more employees cited at least once | 39.0 ± 18.6% | NIOSH, Sun and Azman, JOEH 2018 |
| Part 62 standards in MSHA’s top 10 most cited standards, CY2025 | None (10th place, horns and backup alarms: 1,319 violations) | MSHA, Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards 2025 |
| Coal Mining (NOC) occupational hearing loss workers’ compensation claims, 2009-2013 | 715 claims; $8,795,281 total cost | NIOSH, Masterson et al., Seminars in Hearing 2023 |
| Coal Mining surface and drivers hearing loss claims, 2009-2013 | 347 claims; $6,636,224 total cost | NIOSH, Masterson et al., Seminars in Hearing 2023 |
Most recent available data: the citation analysis ends in 2014 and the workers’ compensation study covers 2009-2013 claims from 36 states and DC. Combined, the two coal classifications account for 1,062 claims and $15,431,505 (715 + 347 claims; $8,795,281 + $6,636,224).
6. Engineering Controls and Hearing Protection: What Actually Works
Engineering controls deliver single-digit decibels, and that is enough to matter. NIOSH’s haul truck package cut operator noise by 9 dB, which more than tripled the time to reach the PEL, from 1.6 to 5.1 hours (5.1 divided by 1.6 = 3.19). The same approach on an LHD gained only 2 dB, because a further fan slowdown overheated the machine: controls live or die on the duty cycle of the equipment.
The second lesson is the gap between the lab and the mine. A vibrating screen package that delivered 5.6 dB in the lab showed 1 dB in its first field trial, and a roof bolter control suite reported in percentage terms needs reading with that caveat in mind. Hearing protection fills the rest of the gap: in a deep shaft mine, traditional dosimetry averaged 90.1 ± 8.2 dBA while in-ear dosimetry averaged 79.6 ± 13.8 dBA (Lutz et al., JOEH 2015). The wide spread in the in-ear figure is the fit problem in one number; our sound level meter and dosimetry statistics cover how those measurements are taken.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Roof bolter bit and chuck elastomeric isolators, lab | 3.7 to 6.6 dB lower A-weighted drilling noise | NIOSH, Michael et al., NCEJ 2011 |
| NIOSH roof bolter noise control suite (with Corry Rubber and Kennametal) | More than 77% lower sound level at the operator’s ear | NIOSH, Alcorn et al., Institute of Noise Control Engineering 2010 |
| Longwall shearer drum controls, underground at operator location | About 6 dB lower A-weighted level | NIOSH, Camargo et al., NCEJ 2016 |
| Haul truck: sickle fan, slower pulley and engine barrier | 9 dB; time to PEL 1.6 to 5.1 hours | NIOSH, Peterson, NCEJ 2018 |
| LHD: sickle fan, pulley and barrier | 2 dB; time to PEL 2.8 to 3.5 hours | NIOSH, Peterson, NCEJ 2018 |
| Vibrating screen noise control package | 5.6 dB sound power (lab); 1 dB (field, spring inserts and damping) | NIOSH, Lowe et al., NCEJ 2013 |
| Continuous mining machine, quiet-by-design control | 3 dB(A) lower operator exposure | NIOSH, Kovalchik et al., Journal of Safety Research 2008 |
| Hearing protection non-use, noise-exposed mining workers | 42.76% (2007) to 28.36% (2014) | NIOSH, Green et al., AJIM 2021 |
Context note: the hearing protection non-use study rests on small unweighted mining samples (34 in 2007, 120 in 2014) and the change was not statistically significant (p = 0.397). The continuous miner figure dates from 2008 (Kovalchik et al.), the most recent available published reduction for that machine.
7. The International Picture: South Africa, China and Ghana
South Africa shows how stubborn mining noise is even when other occupational diseases fall fast. Noise-induced hearing loss cases at South African mines dropped only 55% since 2015, against 78% for tuberculosis and 80% for silicosis, the Minerals Council South Africa said in early 2025 (Cape Times report). Government counts, cited in a 2024 South African coal mine study, even showed cases rising between 2020 and 2021.
China’s national monitoring puts drilling at the top of the risk list, consistent with the US jumbo drill and roof bolter measurements in section 2. A four-province survey of non-coal mines adds a basic gap: more than half of the enterprises did not provide hearing protection at all. In Ghana, a 2025 study of a gold mining firm found more than two thirds of workers exposed above the acceptable level, while 97.8% reported using hearing protection, so the protection is carrying a load the workplace itself has not reduced.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| South African mine NIHL cases since 2015 | Down 55% (TB down 78%; silicosis down 80%) | Minerals Council South Africa, reported by Cape Times 2025 |
| South African mine NIHL cases, 2020 vs 2021 | 738 to 776 (+5.2%) | DMRE 2022, cited in Naicker, South African Journal of Communication Disorders 2024 |
| South African platinum mine workers exposed to 91-105 dBA (1,938 records) | 64.9% | Ntlhakana et al., South African Journal of Communication Disorders 2020 |
| South African industry milestone for equipment noise | Capped at 107 dBA by 2024 | MHSC 2015, cited in Ntlhakana et al. 2020 |
| China 2023, metal mining and beneficiation noise exceedance rate | 39.5% (2698/6833) | Pan et al., Chinese Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Diseases 2025 |
| China 2023, drilling positions exceeding the noise limit | 81.7% (508/622) | Pan et al., Chinese Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Diseases 2025 |
| China non-coal mines (4 provinces): LEX,8h above 85 dB(A) / mines providing no hearing protection | 31.9% / 53.7% | Wang et al., Frontiers in Public Health 2023 |
| Ghana mining firm workers exposed above the acceptable level (n = 316) | 68.6% | Cudjoe et al., PLOS ONE 2025 |
Context note: the Chinese 2023 national analysis is published in Chinese and was read through its English abstract, which also reports a 28.0% exceedance rate for small enterprises and 20.1% for state-owned ones. South Africa’s 85 dBA occupational exposure limit and the 85 dB(A) benchmark used in the Chinese four-province study are stricter than MSHA’s 90 dBA PEL, so exceedance rates are not directly comparable with US Part 62 data.
Summary: Mining Noise Exposure by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US mining workers noise-exposed, past 12 months (2023) | 55.84% (all industries: 15.79%) | NIOSH, Masterson et al., JOEM 2025 |
| Mine workers exposed to hazardous noise | 76% | NIOSH Mining Program, Hearing Loss topic page |
| Injuries attributable to exposure at or above 88 dBA, US surface mines | 20.3% | Shkembi et al., AWEH 2022 |
| Jumbo drill operation | 103.0 ± 0.8 dBA | Lutz et al., JOEH 2015 |
| Roof bolter drilling at operator position | 100 dBA (9.4 kN) to 104 dBA (22 kN) | NIOSH, Michael et al., NCEJ 2011 |
| Continuous miner share of underground coal overexposures, 2000-2005 | 35% | NIOSH, Michael et al., NCEJ 2011 |
| Longwall shearer operators overexposed, 2002-2011 | Approximately 48% | NIOSH, Camargo et al., NCEJ 2016 |
| MSHA samples above PEL, before vs after 2000 | 23.5% vs 7.0% | Roberts, Sun and Neitzel, IJA 2017 |
| Underground coal samples above PEL, post-2000 | 14.7% | Roberts, Sun and Neitzel, IJA 2017 |
| Hearing loss prevalence, miners aged 56-65 | 53.46% | NIOSH, Lawson et al., AJIM 2019 |
| Mine workers with hearing impairment by mid-60s | About 4 in 5 | NIOSH Mining Program, Hearing Loss topic page |
| Coal mines cited at least once under Part 62, 2000-2014 | 25.6% | NIOSH, Sun and Azman, JOEH 2018 |
| Part 62 violations per 100 inspections, coal vs stone, sand and gravel | 3.6 vs 1.9 | NIOSH, Sun and Azman, JOEH 2018 |
| Haul truck engineering controls | 9 dB lower operator noise | NIOSH, Peterson, NCEJ 2018 |
| Roof bolter control suite | More than 77% lower sound at operator’s ear | NIOSH, Alcorn et al., INCE 2010 |
| Hearing protection non-use, mining workers (2014) | 28.36% | NIOSH, Green et al., AJIM 2021 |
| South African mine NIHL cases since 2015 | Down 55% | Minerals Council South Africa, 2025 |
| China drilling positions exceeding noise limit (2023) | 81.7% | Pan et al., 2025 |
Methodology and Sources
- NIOSH, Masterson, Morata and Themann: Prevalence of Ototoxic Chemical Exposure, Noise Exposure and Hearing Difficulty Among Workers in the United States, 2023 (JOEM 2025)
- NIOSH Mining Program: Hearing Loss topic page
- Shkembi et al.: Evaluating Occupational Noise Exposure as a Contributor to Injury Risk among Miners (Annals of Work Exposures and Health 2022)
- Shkembi et al.: Noise exposure and nonfatal and fatal injury rates among US miners, 1983 to 2014 (American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2022)
- NIOSH, Michael et al.: Development of elastomeric isolators to reduce roof bolting machine drilling noise (Noise Control Engineering Journal 2011)
- Lutz et al.: Effectiveness evaluation of existing noise controls in a deep shaft underground mine (Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 2015)
- NIOSH, Lowe et al.: A noise control package for vibrating screens (Noise Control Engineering Journal 2013)
- NIOSH, Peterson: Experimental methods to reduce noise generated by haul trucks and LHDs (Noise Control Engineering Journal 2018)
- NIOSH, Camargo, Azman and Alcorn: Development of noise controls for longwall shearer cutting drums (Noise Control Engineering Journal 2016)
- 30 CFR 62.101, Definitions (MSHA occupational noise exposure standard)
- Roberts, Sun and Neitzel: What can 35 years and over 700,000 measurements tell us about noise exposure in the mining industry? (International Journal of Audiology 2017)
- NIOSH, Lawson, Masterson and Azman: Prevalence of hearing loss among noise-exposed workers within the Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction sectors, 2006-2015 (AJIM 2019)
- Liebenberg et al.: Hearing threshold levels of Australian coal mine workers, 64,196 audiograms (International Journal of Audiology 2021)
- NIOSH, Sun and Azman: Evaluating hearing loss risks in the mining industry through MSHA citations (JOEH 2018)
- MSHA: Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards 2025
- NIOSH, Masterson et al.: Workers’ Compensation Costs for Occupational Hearing Loss Claims in the United States, 2009-2013 (Seminars in Hearing 2023)
- NIOSH, Alcorn et al.: Less Sound Underground: Reducing Roof Bolting Machine Drilling Noise (INCE 2010)
- NIOSH, Kovalchik et al.: Application of Prevention through Design for hearing loss in the mining industry (Journal of Safety Research 2008)
- NIOSH, Green, Masterson and Themann: Prevalence of hearing protection device non-use among noise-exposed US workers in 2007 and 2014 (AJIM 2021)
- Cape Times: Mining fatalities down, noise-induced hearing loss cases a concern (February 2025, quoting the Minerals Council South Africa)
- Naicker: Noise-induced hearing loss and hearing protection: Attitudes at a South African coal mine (South African Journal of Communication Disorders 2024)
- Ntlhakana, Nelson and Khoza-Shangase: Estimating miners at risk for occupational noise-induced hearing loss, South African platinum mine (South African Journal of Communication Disorders 2020)
- Pan et al.: Analysis of noise exposure levels at workplace positions in the national mining industry in 2023 (Chinese Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Diseases 2025)
- Wang et al.: Noise exposure assessment of non-coal mining workers in four provinces of China (Frontiers in Public Health 2023)
- Cudjoe et al.: Health effects of occupational noise exposure on heavy-duty equipment operators in a mining firm in Ghana (PLOS ONE 2025)
- Data watch: exposure prevalence varies by definition. The 2023 NHIS figure (55.84%) is self-reported noise exposure in the past 12 months, the NIOSH Mining Program figure (76%) is its own summary estimate, and an earlier NIOSH estimate by Kerns et al., cited in Lawson et al. (AJIM 2019), put it at 61%. The 2023 NHIS hearing difficulty estimate for mining (13.75%) carries a relative standard error of 30 to 50% and was left out of the tables for that reason. Most equipment-level overexposure shares and Part 62 sample data end in 2014 or earlier, and the age-specific hearing loss data cover audiograms from 2006 to 2015; NIOSH has published 2010-2019 sector updates for construction and utilities, so a newer mining update may follow. South African case counts come from industry and government statements relayed by a newspaper and a journal article, not from a downloadable dataset. The Chinese 2023 figures were read from the English abstract of a Chinese-language paper.
Last updated: October 18, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next refresh is expected when MSHA publishes its calendar-year 2026 most frequently cited standards or NIOSH releases a 2010-2019 hearing loss prevalence update for the mining sector.