Edwards says the most rewarding feeling about her job is the interaction with knowledgeable scientists and colleagues who are leaders in their field, the continual learning and growth, and the prospects of investigating new fields.
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Anita Edwards
The health and safety of mine workers continues to be a contentious debate in our country. Despite intervention by the government, statistics continue to show how miners lose their lives during mining accidents and how the health of others is compromised due to hazardous working conditions.
Even though there are ongoing efforts to improve the effectiveness of mine hearing conservation programmes (HCPs), noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), which is one of the most prevalent occupational injuries in the South African mining industry, continues to cause loss of quality of life for its victims and to cost the South African mining industry a great deal of money.
Anita Edwards is a CSIR researcher who has dedicated her career to the improvement and effective implementation of hearing conservation programmes within the South African mining industry. As a woman, Edwards adds a mixture of passion and compassion to her work. Her most prolific work is on noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).
"Loss of hearing severely impacts workers' ability to earn a living and function in social relationships, resulting in diminished quality of life and added pressure on social support systems. In addition, it has a negative economic impact, as it is the most compensated occupational injury in the South African mining industry," she says.
Edwards says this research is important because it impacts not only the health and safety of miners in the workplace but also the family interactions and relationships and quality of life of the miner. She also believes that her work serves to support mining companies in improving their health practices and policies.
Edwards says the scope for growth in her discipline is vast, both professionally and personally, also for women.
"From the point of view of professional growth as a researcher, there are good opportunities to investigate the pressing issues in the field by tapping into the amazing infrastructure and resources available to you as a researcher and by working in an integrated team of experts. There are also excellent opportunities to grow personally by taking advantage of the personal development training available and by directing your own career," she explains.
Although Edwards only started working for the CSIR in 2007, she has a varied career that spans more than 25 years. She has worked as a speech and hearing therapist, industrial audiologist and lecturer at the University of Limpopo and at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Her most recent work include a project on the status (base lining) of silica dust and noise exposure in the mining industry as well as the effects of exposure to multiple health stressors as defined by the Physiological Strain Index.
Edwards says direct outcomes of her research includes a model to predict hearing thresholds; training and awareness materials; and hearing protection device selection guidelines.
"Since we've started with this research, the training materials available for prevention of noise-induced hearing loss, are much improved," she says.
Edwards says the most rewarding feeling about her job is the interaction with knowledgeable scientists and colleagues who are leaders in their field, the continual learning and growth, and the prospects of investigating new fields.
She dedicated her PhD thesis to the many that have lost their hearing in the workplace. And she says this is because she witnesses the pain that sufferers go through. She is studying through the University of the Witwatersrand. The primary objective of her PhD thesis was to investigate the use of Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions (DPOAEs) as a basis for compensation for noise-induced hearing loss.
Edwards says DPOAE is a test that can tell whether the function of the outer hair cells of the auditory portion of the inner ear is damaged.
An otoacoustic emission is a sound that is generated from within the inner ear. Research has shown that OAEs disappear when the inner ear has been damaged. OAEs are often used in the laboratory and the clinic as a measure of inner ear health.
Edwards serves on the National Council of the South African Speech-Language and Hearing Association (SASLHA). She is the editor for the SASLHA Communiphon magazine and is the chairperson of the Continuing Professional Development Accreditation committee for SASLHA.
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