Introduction:

Noise has been recognized as a physical agent capable of affecting people's health; it is a dangerous pollutant, a great generator of damage to the auditory system and alters other systems of the human body, negatively influencing the health of workers, the use of the day and the productivity of organizations. The introduction of new technologies has brought a dynamic to production processes, adding the noise factor and its exposure, as a new component of occupational risk.

Objectives:

To determine exposure to noise and its hearing effects in workers in the production areas of a Venezuelan sugar company.

Methods:

Quantitative, field, non-experimental, observational, descriptive, cross-sectional research. The population was 248 workers, of whom 167 met the inclusion criteria. A direct observation was made and the measuring instruments used for environmental monitoring were a sound level meter and a dosimeter for personal dosimetry. The information obtained was recorded for processing in a database in the Excel® program.

Results:

All workers in the sample are male, aged between 22 and 79 years and an average of 47 years. All workplaces had ambient noise levels above 85 dBA. 41.9% of workers exposed to noise had some type of hearing damage.

Conclusions:

The company has several sources that generate noise that, when combined, produce it with very high levels and cause sensorineural hearing damage.

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