49 Melford Court,
Hardwick Grange,
Woolston,
Warrington,
Cheshire.
WA1 4RZ
Telephone: 01925 838350
Fax: 01925 838351
Email: office@soundadviceltd.co.uk
On-Site Health Surveillance
Occupational Health Services
Our Services Include:
- New starter work health assessments (was pre-employment questionnaire)
- Sickness absence management
- Skin Checks (Dermatitis)
- Night worker medicals
- Lone worker health assessments
- Fork lift truck (FLT) medicals
- Management referrals
- Stress management
- Hand arm vibration syndrome
(HAVS) clinical assessments
How do we hear?
What is sound?
An object produces sound when it vibrates in matter. This could be a solid, such as earth; a liquid, such as water; or a gas, such as air. Most of the time, we hear sounds traveling through the air in our atmosphere.
When something vibrates in the atmosphere, it moves the air particles around it. Those air particles in turn move the air particles around them, carrying the pulse of the vibration through the air - Sound Waves.
How we hear
Hearing depends on a series of events that change sound waves in the air into electrical signals. Our auditory nerve then carries these signals to the brain through a complex series of steps.
Sound waves enter the outer ear (the Pinna) and travel through a narrow passageway called the Meatus, which leads to the eardrum.
When sound waves reach the eardrum, they cause the eardrum to vibrate. When the eardrum vibrates, it moves the ossicles (the three smallest bones in your body, called the malleus, incus and stapes). The bones in the middle ear amplify, or increase, the sound vibrations and send them to the inner ear (the cochlea) which is shaped like a snail shell and is filled with fluid. An elastic membrane runs from the beginning to the end of the cochlea, splitting it into an upper and lower part. This membrane is called the "basilar" membrane because it serves as the base, or ground floor, on which key hearing structures sit.
The sound vibrations cause the fluid inside the cochlea to ripple, and a travelling wave forms along the basilar membrane. Hair cells-sensory cells sitting on top of the membrane - "ride the wave."
As the hair cells move up and down, their bristly structures bump up against an overlying membrane and tilt to one side. This tilting action causes pore-like channels, which are on the surface of the bristles, to open up. When that happens, certain chemicals rush in, creating an electrical signal.
The auditory nerve carries this electrical signal to the brain, which translates it into a "sound" that we recognize and understand.
Hair cells near the base of the cochlea detect higher-pitched sounds, such as a phone ringing. Those nearer the apex, or centremost point, detect lower-pitched sounds, such as a large dog barking.
Contact us now on 01925 838350 and speak to one of our consultants for further advice on your company's needs.
Tel: (01925) 838350 - Fax: (01925) 838351 - Email: office@soundadviceltd.co.uk