Hearing about workplace noise at RCPI Faculty of Occupational Medicine’s Spring Conference
Awareness of new guidelines for workplace noise, and the impact of endocrine conditions at work, was raised at RCPI Faculty of Occupational Medicine’s Spring Conference.
The important college meeting in No 6 Kildare Street on 4 April - the product of several months’ planning by the faculty’s Scientific Meetings Committee chaired by Dr Grant Jeffrey – began with faculty dean Dr Alex Reid introducing the conference. “Today’s is a very interesting programme that deals a variety of not uncommon situations that we encounter in the workplace,” said Dr Reid.
A session dedicated to hearing-loss began with a presentation by Dr Martin Hogan (director, Corporate Health Ireland Cork) who was consulted by the Health Service Executive on their 2007 guidelines on industrial audiometry. Dr Hogan explained that updates to the guidelines are soon to be announced, to align with a 2021 change in the UK’s guidelines stipulating: “Where, as a result of health surveillance, the employee has identifiable hearing loss, the diagnosis of noise-induced hearing loss must be confirmed by a doctor.” “This was done for the safety of the patient. It has also made the situation more doctor-centric,” said Dr Hogan. The updated guidelines contain advice on how doctors can identify rapid-hearing loss by reading audiograms.
In Ireland’s manufacturing and mining industries, 40% of employees are experiencing unacceptable levels of noise at work – according to physiologist Ms Melanie Brewster (founder, Industrial Diagnostics Company UK). Ms Brewster delivered a presentation arguing that the UK health service’s categorisation system is likely to miss signs of noise-induced hearing loss. She said the health service’s tool is not sensitive enough to employees, including a younger cohort. “This categorisation system is so pessimistic in the lower frequencies for younger people,” she said. The perspective of a deaf person was provided by Mr Shane Hamilton (community resource officer, CHIME charity for deaf and hard-of-hearing people). “I have seen in the last 20 years hearing technology getting better all the time,” he said, charting the evolution of assistive technologies in the workplace to modern-day microphones that can connect to multiple hearing aid receivers at once.
In the second session of the day, medical-imaging expert Dr John Sheehan (radiologist, Blackrock Clinic) gave an overview of how Artificial Intelligence technologies are transforming healthcare, and anticipated barriers to the health service adapting to A.I. Ciaran O’Boyle (professor emeritus of psychology) shared how he founded the Positive Health Medicine Centre in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. “To me what is key to wellbeing in the workplace is leadership,” he said, talking about models of transformational leadership that measures abundance in the workplace, not just deficits. He quoted a recent study that assessed the data of 1m employees across 1782 publicly listed US companies, and made links between company performance and employees’ “happiness index.”
A rise in complaints to the Medical Council was the topic of two presentations. Council president Dr Suzanne Crowe explained the council’s role as advocating for patients and doctors in a changing environment. Of 364 complaints received by the Council in 2024, nine related to occupational medicine physicians on the Council’s specialist register (and most complaints related to dissatisfaction over issued work certificates and medical reports). Dr Deirdre Gleeson (medical director, Medwise Occupational Health Service) said that occupational medicine physicians are at risk of complaint due to obligations not only to employees and employers but also third parties such as insurers and welfare providers. She spoke to a perception that a complaint about an Occupational Medicine physician will lead to issuing of insurance payments.
An afternoon session was dedicated to the impacts of endocrine conditions at work. “Infertility is a medical diagnosis but it can be a social diagnosis too,” said Prof Cathy Allen (obstetrician-gynaecologist, Merrion Fertility Clinic). Prof Allen explained that standard fertility medications might have to be taken in the workplace via injection, followed by visits to clinic for scans. “If you’re in a flexible job, you can nip out for an ultrasound scan. That’s grand. If you’re a teacher in the midlands who needs to come up to Dublin, you have to take the day off work,” she said. Prof Allen advised that workplaces can create a supportive environment by facilitating staff leave entitlements, and having discretionary pregnancy loss policies.
In a presentation titled “Osteoporosis – The Silent Killer,” Prof Moira O’Brien (Affidea Medical Scan Clinic) warned that it isn’t normal for employees to break a bone from a trip and fall, even on cement or ice. Prof O’Brien originally became interested in Osteoporosis from working as Medical Officer to Team Ireland at the Olympic Games, and seeing Osteoporotic fractures in athletes. For diagnosing Osteoporosis, she advised testing bone density via a Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scan of the spine and hips, and conducting a Lateral Vertebral Assessment (LVA).
Lastly, Dr Maura Moriarty (endocrinologist, Cork University Hospital) gave an update on diabetes technology that is available for employees to use at work. She said that people with diabetes may be monitoring glucose via a sensor worn on the skin, and administering insulin via pens or a pump worn on the body. Dr Moriarty said workplaces can make reasonable accommodations by taking into account the placement of employees’ insulin pump and tubing, and ensure they don’t become dislodged by the physical environment. Access to a fridge allows employees to store insulin, and wi-fi may be required if employees are using a smartphone app to read glucose levels. “Just because people have diabetes and use technology in the workplace does not negatively impact on their performance,” said Dr Moriarty. “With use of technology, their performance should be better.”
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