The Dangerous Decibels Educator Training Workshop is heading to New Zealand for the second time this year! The Accident Compensation Commission is bringing the program back to teach two workshops in an effort to get the Dangerous Decibels program into all New Zealand schools.

The Dangerous Decibels educator training workshops prepare individuals to present a K-12 classroom program, effective at changing knowledge, attitudes and behavior in students regarding their hearing health. The Dangerous Decibels program is housed at OHSU and has been doing the two-day workshops for 6 years, attracting attendees from around the world. The program has added different examples of sounds to their repertoire over the years, including while partnering with SAIF Corporation, the addition of agricultural sounds, such as pig squeals, tractors and sheep shearing.

CROET and our partner, O[yes] (Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition), have appreciated using some of the Dangerous Decibels’ cool interactive props. Recently O[yes] acquired its own “Jolene-related” manikin to help people of all ages know how loud their i-pod or other music listening device is, and to better understand hearing health. Jolene was recently named as one of only 30 innovations in the Better World Report 2010 (see p. 40).

Contact Linda Howarth of the Dangerous Decibels Program for more information. Check out our CROETweb resource page for more on noise and hearing protection in the workplace.