Nominations for the 2023 Safe-in-Sound Awards Are Due June 8

The deadline to nominate organizations or individuals to receive a Safe-in-Sound Award in 2023 is June 8, 2022. The Safe-in-Sound Awards are presented annually by NIOSH in partnership with the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) and the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC). The awards recognize those who demonstrate by example the benefits of developing or following good hearing loss prevention practices. Two awards are given: the Excellence Award, which honors employers who implement exemplary hearing loss prevention programs, and the Innovation Award, which recognizes those who create innovative solutions to workplace hearing loss prevention challenges.

NIOSH, NHCA, and CAOHC are accepting nominations for the next round of awards. To start the nomination process, interested individuals should submit a letter via email to Safe-in-Sound Review Committee Coordinator Scott Schneider by June 8, 2022, that describes the noise control or other hearing loss prevention intervention that suggests excellence or innovation. Self-nominations are encouraged. Completed applications will be due by July 15, 2022.

This year’s recipients of the Safe-in-Sound Award for Innovation were the audio software development company Rational Acoustics LLC and two of its staff members. The Rational Acoustics team was recognized for raising awareness of noise management among music industry professionals, standard-setting organizations, and the public. The 2022 Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award recognized the strong safety culture at the Northrop Grumman St. Augustine Site, a facility that produces, modifies, repairs, and overhauls military aircraft.

Additional information on the nomination process is available on the Safe-in-Sound website​​​ and in a SynergistNOW blog post authored in 2019 by Scott Schneider.