Six Bad Assumptions about Hearing Protection
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Bad or faulty assumptions about personal hearing protective equipment are hazardous and can result in injury, or worse, according to a new, free white paper from Howard Leight, Smithfiled, R.I., USA. Yet, despite 25 years of government regulation, a handful of persistent bad assumptions are widespread, endangering both the effectiveness of occupational Hearing Conservation Programs (HCPs) and worker hearing.
Titled Bad Assumptions about Hearing Protection, the new white paper provides insight into common and potentially dangerous misconceptions associated with hearing protection. Authored by Brad K. Witt, past president of the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) and director of hearing conservation at Howard Leight/Sperian Hearing Protection LLC, a global provider of passive and intelligent hearing protection solutions, the paper is available as a free download.
"Specifically, the white paper details the six most common 'bad assumptions' about hearing protection for noise-exposed workers. These assumptions, if left unchecked, have the ability to torpedo an otherwise healthy Hearing Conservation Program, and leave the door open for hearing loss among workers exposed to hazardous noise," says Witt. The white paper discusses the following "bad assumptions":
- Hearing protection is self-explanatory
- Any earplug in the ear is blocking some noise
- An earplug halfway in the ear blocks about half the noise
- Cut the Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) in half to predict real-world protection
- There's no way to measure real attenuation on a worker wearing earplugs
- There's no way to measure the noise dose of a worker under the hearing protectors throughout their workday.
"Bad assumptions sink many well-intentioned workplace hearing safety initiatives. But avoiding these simple bad assumptions about hearing protection helps a Hearing Conservation Program stay on solid ground, and do just what it is designed to do: prevent noise-induced hearing loss," Witt notes.
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