Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00426:front:0:p6
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and safety committee, you should engage the committee in the process as well.

Consulting, co-operating and co-ordinating activities with other duty holders
Section 46: The WHS Act requires that you consult, co-operate and co-ordinate activities with all other persons who have a work health or safety duty in relation to the same matter, so far as is reasonably practicable.
Sometimes you may share responsibility for a health and safety matter with other business operators who are involved in the same activities or who share the same workplace. In these situations, you should exchange information to find out who is doing what and work together in a co-operative and co-ordinated way so that all risks are eliminated or minimised as far as reasonably practicable.
For example, if you own or manage an on-hire business and your workers work at other workplaces then you must consult the host business so far as is reasonably practicable to determine if your workers could be exposed to hazardous noise and agree on what you each will do to control any associated risks.

Further guidance is available in the Code of Practice: Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination.

2. NOISE AND ITS EFFECT ON HEALTH AND SAFETY

2.1 How does hearing loss occur?
Hazardous noise affects the functioning of the inner ear, which may cause temporary hearing loss. After a period of time away from noise, hearing may be restored. With further exposure to hazardous noise, the ear will gradually lose its ability to recover and the hearing loss will become permanent.
Permanent hearing loss can also occur suddenly if a person is exposed to very loud impact or explosive sounds. This type of damage is known as acoustic trauma.
Permanent hearing loss results from the destruction of hair cells in the inner ear. These cells cannot be replaced or repaired by any presently known medical treatments or technology.
Usually, hazardous noise first affects the ability to hear high-frequency (high-pitched) sounds. This means that even though a person can still hear some sounds, conversation will start to sound 'muffled' and a person may find it difficult to understand what is being said.
Communication difficulties occur especially when there are competing background noises. Modern hearing aids may improve the ability to hear speech but they are unable to completely restore the clarity of the full hearing function.

Workers exposed to hazardous noise may also experience tinnitus, which could become permanent. When severe, it may disrupt sleep, reduce concentration, make people extremely irritable and lead to depression.
The degree of hearing loss that occurs is dependent on how loud the noise is, how long someone is exposed to it and, to some extent, individual susceptibility. The