That was an exciting football game. I’ve been wondering something, though, ever since I saw the story of CenturyLink field breaking the world record for noise at an outdoor stadium (twice).

What I wonder is, how do they not get their pants sued off for hearing damage? 137 db is higher than the “level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss” [cf. this chart]

You might say that as a fan attending the game, you knowingly and willingly accept that risk. In fact, you might also say that you’re partially responsible for making the noise. I don’t think that would fly legally, though.

Not only that, but not everyone in that stadium is a fan. There are a lot of people in there who are employees of CenturyLink field or of the Seattle Seahawks football team. How are they not covered by OSHA requirements?

Make them wear hearing protection on the job? Well, sure, but

Hearing protection devices (HPDs) are considered the last option to control exposures to noise. HPDs are generally used during the necessary time it takes to implement engineering or administrative controls, or when such controls are not feasible.

Given that the stadium owner and designer have pretty much admitted that it was designed to be loud, I think they fail the engineering controls. Seeing as how the Seahawks organization seems to encourage the noise (and certainly doesn’t do anything to DIScourage it), they probably fail the administrative controls as well.

Anyway, go Hawks! Glad I’m not your lawyer.