How much do you know about protecting your hearing? Take the quiz below. Select the best response to the following statements. The answers are at the bottom of the page.

1. Your ears can protect themselves. True False

2. Loud noises can cause permanent hearing loss. True False

3. The hair cells in your inner ear:

   1. grow back once damaged

   2. filter out loud noise

   3. send nerve impulses to your brain

4. Hearing loss due to exposure to a loud noise:

   1. happens only at work

   2. is preventable

   3. usually causes sharp pain in your ear

5. As decibels (dB) increase, loudness:

   1. rises quickly

   2. drops quickly

   3. stays the same

6. Loud music can hurt your hearing as much as noise from a jackhammer. True False

7. If you hear 85-dB to 125-dB sounds for a long time each day:

   1. you don't need ear plugs or muffs

   2. you can lose your hearing slowly

   3. you'll probably feel sharp ear pains

8. Putting cotton balls in your ears is enough to protect your hearing. True False

9. A hearing test:

   1. requires studying OSHA's hearing conservation rules

   2. tells you how to protect your ears

   3. may tell you if you've lost some hearing ability

10. Hearing protection should:

    1. be worn only on the job

    2. always be removed once you get used to the noise

    3. be worn whenever it is needed to block loud noises