Dashpivot Article – When Should Hearing Protection be Worn?
When Should Hearing Protection be Worn?
In areas where tools, machinery, engines, and construction noise are high all the time, the hearing of workers must be protected. Prolonged exposure to high noise in the workplace can cause permanent hearing damage. Hearing protection is a vital barrier that protects the delicate inner ear structures from high noise in certain work environments. It can be hard to understand or explain to workers when should hearing protection be worn, given the nuance and difficulty in measuring sound regularly and accurately.
Over time, high noise can lead to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), a condition that can affect quality of life big time. NIHL can also compromise communication during work tasks, increase the risk of accidents, and decrease productivity. By wearing hearing protection during their daily work tasks, workers can reduce the risk of hearing damage and keep their ability to hear and communicate intact.
In this article, we will discuss the importance of hearing protection, PPE, and how to implement hearing better safety in the workplace.
The Basics of Hearing Protection in the Workplace
Knowing when to protect your hearing can seem complicated, but there’s a simple way to figure it out without any special equipment or technical knowledge: if you have to raise your voice to have a normal conversation with someone standing an arm’s length away from you, that’s your body’s way of telling you the environment is too loud and it’s time to put on some hearing protection. This simple test has been proven to work in countless situations and will help you make quick decisions about your ears.
Noise Levels
The science behind hearing damage is interesting; researchers have found that prolonged exposure to sounds above 85 decibels—roughly the noise of heavy city traffic or a busy restaurant during peak hours—can cause permanent damage to the inner ear structures, especially when you are exposed to these sound levels for 8 hours or more in a day. Knowing this threshold is important because many everyday situations can expose us to dangerous noise levels without us even realising it; that’s why being aware of your environment and taking necessary precautions is key.
Be Mindful of Noisy Environments
The modern world is full of equipment and machinery that can produce dangerous noise levels, from the obvious ones like industrial earthmoving equipment and large drilling machines to the not-so-obvious ones like household power drills and lawn maintenance equipment. Even activities that don’t seem loud at first, like working near continuous processing equipment or operating smaller power tools, can be risky to your hearing health when you are exposed to them for extended periods during your workday.
Workplace Safety Rules Around When Hearing Protection Should be Worn
When it comes to hearing protection in the workplace, most companies have developed their safety protocols over years of research and real-world experience, so these rules aren’t just suggestions but critical guidelines to protect your long-term hearing health. Even if you think the noise levels don’t seem that bad or you’ll only be exposed for a short time, you must follow these established protocols and wear your earplugs or earmuffs when you are in designated hearing protection areas or performing tasks that require them.
Effects of Prolonged Noise Exposure
The relationship between noise exposure and hearing damage is like a sunburn: brief exposure to intense noise might not cause immediate problems, but prolonged or repeated exposure to even moderate noise can cause damage over time, just like how hours in the sun without protection can cause serious skin damage. This cumulative effect means even if you are working around machinery that doesn’t seem loud, the extended exposure throughout your day can still be putting your hearing at risk.
When to Wear Specific Types of Hearing Protection?
Now that we know when to wear hearing protection, we should also know when to wear specific types. Choosing the right type of hearing protection for the situation is key to minimising noise-induced hearing damage:
When Should Hearing Protection be Worn - Earplugs
Earplugs are for environments where noise levels are constant. They are best for workers who move between noisy areas and need continuous protection. Earplugs are for use in environments where machinery is running 24/7 or for extended periods of high noise exposure.
When to Wear Earmuffs
When you need more serious hearing protection, earmuffs provide a solid barrier against extreme noise. They are best used in situations where noise levels vary greatly and where you need to quickly don and doff protection, like in areas where heavy equipment is intermittently used. Earmuffs are also better in environments where earplugs won’t provide enough protection or for those who find earplugs uncomfortable for long periods.
When Should More Serious hearing Protection be Worn - Electronic Noise-Cancelling Earmuffs
These are best used in situations where communication is critical but difficult due to background noise. Electronic noise-cancelling earmuffs can attenuate hazardous noise while allowing you to hear speech and other important sounds. They are ideal for use in operations where teamwork and verbal communication is key, like coordinating tasks in dynamic and noisy environments.
When to Wear Banded Earplugs
Banded earplugs are for intermittent noise exposure, and they are convenient for workers who move between noisy and quiet areas; you can adjust the protection without losing the protectors. Banded earplugs are useful in situations where workers need to manage their hearing protection actively depending on the immediate noise level around them.
How to Implement Hearing Protection in the Workplace
Hearing protection is best done when implemented and followed accordingly, and here are some practical ways to implement it:
Conduct Workplace Training Sessions
As with any safety programme, proper training is the key, as it teaches workers about the dangers of loud noises, how important ear protection is, and how to properly use these devices. When these workers are properly trained for tasks that involve extreme noise, there should be a demo on how to use hearing protection to better reinforce their understanding and overall safety compliance.
Conduct Daily or Weekly Toolbox Talks
Toolbox talks are simple but a great way to remind workers about hearing protection and proper safety measures, including the correct way of using earmuffs or earplugs in loud workplace settings. Daily toolbox talks allow a more open environment where there is a sharing of concerns and experiences among workers, and hearing best practices makes implementing hearing protection safety a whole lot better.
Personalised Fitting of Hearing Protection
Some workers also decline to use hearing protection devices, arguing that they are uncomfortable or don't fit properly. This can be overcome with a fitting session that may have the worker fitted with earplugs or earmuffs that are suitable for them, comfortable, and effective. This may include a choice from different types of earplugs, such as foam, silicone, or custom moulded, or adjustment of earmuff bands for a better fit.
Noise Exposure Monitoring
Conducting a noise exposure monitoring programme can better identify locations where there is a better need for hearing protection to determine the sound levels. Safety officers can identify those jobs or areas where there is a hazardous amount of noise levels and determine the hearing protection necessary. Knowing this information can help assess the performance of the current hearing conservation programme, which can also make recommendations for adjustments.
Provide Hearing Protectors
When workers have easy access to different types of hearing protectors or PPE, they are encouraged to wear them. They are also more likely to wear hearing protection if they have options that are comfortable, convenient, and effective for their work environment. Sometimes, workers can easily misplace their earmuffs or earplugs, and having more at arm's reach can better protect them from noise hazards.
Implement Noise-Related Safety Procedures
Documenting all noise-related safety procedures is a good practice, as it allows you to review and update in the future as circumstances work in the workplace. Implementing documentation about hearing protection also provides evidence that you did your part in mitigating noise-related risks, just in case accidents happen in the workplace.
An example template of a toolbox talk on hearing protection is shown below:
Explain when hearing protection should be worn with a good toolbox talk
Toolbox talks about hearing protection are the most effective when kept short and more engaging, and one way to ensure a better talk is to have a specific agenda. This toolbox talk for hearing protection template can help your team structure, document, and review toolbox talks in a hassle-free way.
This form is also pre-populated with all the necessary fields, and you can take notes of your discussion points, existing noise hazards, tasks, and issues raised by team members. You can also record attendance, add more custom fields, attach a map of the site, and many other awesome features.
In Summary, When Should Hearing Protection be Worn?
An integrated hearing protection programme can offer a multitude of benefits to ensure a sound working environment where workers are protected from extreme noises. It’s not merely a compliance measure, but something organisations have control over for better overall safety and culture. The long-term benefits of conserving workers’ hearing far outweigh the investments made or any training done initially.
PPE Request Form template
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PPE Inspection Checklist template
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Safety Toolbox Talk template
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