Introduction: The work is an eternal natural need, i.e., a process between man and nature. The disease is a biological process older than man. But in man, the disease has also another dimension: the social one. Aim: This study intended to determine the prevalence of hearing losses in workers in the hiring process of companies in the region of Campinas - S.P. Study design: Retrospective clinical. Material e method: The sample comprised 3,117 records of candidates to jobs offered in the industries of different segments in the region of Campinas - S.P. The selected companies were heterogeneous and featured as predominantly unhealthy environments. In order to survey the audiometric configuration of the workers, the audiometric results were evaluated by air conduction and bone conduction. Results: The results showed that 80.4% of the workers presented hearing within the normal standards and 19.6% presented audiometric change. Out of the workers that presented audiometric change, 5.7% presented conductive hearing loss; 65.7% sensorineural hearing loss; 0.7% mixed hearing loss, when we analyzed the right ear only and 7.9% presented conductive hearing loss; 79.7%, sensorineural hearing loss; 1.1% mixed hearing loss, when we analyzed the left ear only. Conclusion: We emphasize the importance of the audiologic work as to the implantation of programs for the prevention of hearing losses, in order to enable the worker’s placement in the market without trouble.
hearing loss; worker’s health; noise induced hearing loss
