What is painless, odorless, tasteless, invisible, and hazardous? The answer is: noise-induced hearing loss.

Noise-induced hearing loss can be an incurable, but yet completely preventable condition. Everyone is affected by excess noise, depending upon how loud, how long, and how close they are to it. An extreme noise, like a firecracker, experienced at close range, can damage hearing permanently in an instant. But, repeated exposure to engines and machines, like motorcycles or chain saws, can erode hearing at a slower rate. The result is the same: irreversible hearing loss.

What can you do to protect your and your family's hearing? E.ON U.S.'s Corporate Health and Safety department promotes these tips from the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety:

• Be aware of damaging noise.
• Be prepared to protect your hearing. Carry earplugs or other protection, learn how to use it properly, and wear it! Remember: It's required at work in identified areas that exceed 85 decibels (dB).
• If one type of earplugs is uncomfortable, there are many others from which to choose. Find the most comfortable brand for you.
• Take a pair of earplugs home with you from work to use at when you're involved in activities that could lead to hearing damage. If you work in an office setting, you may request a free pair of earplugs.

Besides setting the example by wearing hearing protection, you can help family, friends, and co-workers understand how hearing can be damaged through the following scenarios:

• If you are standing next to someone wearing a personal radio with earphones, and you can hear the lyrics to the song, that person is being exposed to a damaging noise level.
• If your kids are watching you cut wood with a power saw to build a bookshelf in your basement and you're not wearing protection, you are all experiencing damage.
• If your teenager is doing lawn work for the summer, using a gasoline engine, and not wearing hearing protection, hour after hour, it's doing damage.
• If anyone in your family uses a firearm for recreational shooting, and does not use hearing protection, they're at risk for hearing damage.
• The best hearing protector is the one that is comfortable and convenient and that you will wear every time you are in an environment with hazardous noise.