Products for Industry

General Information

Of all personal protection equipment, hearing protectors are the most criticised. Over half the people who should wear them don’t want to. Mostly because of poor communication with fellow workers, poor perception of work sound and warning signals a feeling of isolation from the environment.

New European noise at work legislation will mean that workers must wear hearing protection when the 8 hour equivalent noise levels exceed 85dB. Due to successful measures to reduce noise levels at source, 80% of noise in the workplace no longer exceeds 95dB.

Conventional hearing protectors are designed to work effectively for noise levels of 95dB or higher! It is clear to understand why conventional hearing protection products create isolation and poor perception - they over attenuate or ‘over protect’.

Generally, hearing protectors provide very high protection levels at the frequencies where the perception and intelligibility of sound is most important. in other words, they give their users a hearing loss and it is quite common that wearers of products will remove them when they need to understand what others are saying. Removing hearing protection or not fitting it properly in a noisy environment diminishes the level of protection drastically.

New Noise Regulations

With the implementation of new lower noise levels in April 2006, workers will have to wear hearing protection when the (8-hour equivalent) noise level exceeds 85dB(A). Looking at what the market currently offers, all hearing protectors are made for noise levels of 95dB(A) or higher. So, it’s clear to understand why conventional hearing protection products create isolation and poor perception ­ they over-protect!

For further information on current noise regulations please log onto http://www.hse.gov.uk

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