What measures must be taken to protect your employees’ hearing?

Post By: Shona Innes

Providing workers with ear defenders is not the only measure of protection needed – additional activities must be carried out first and the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 highlights these.

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 aims to protect workers who may experience excessive noise in their place of work which can result in loss of hearing or tinnitus.

This means employers are responsible for controlling or removing risks to their worker’s health and safety caused by noise at work. Action must be taken and a noise risk assessment should be carried out if noises are excessive to the point where employees have to raise their voices to maintain a conversation with someone who is only 2 metres away, where machinery and noisy power tools are used for more than half an hour a day and where noise is caused from impact.

This also applies to intrusive noises which are present for most of the day, noises caused by explosive sources and also wok in industries such as construction, manufacturing or entertainment.

The noise that workers are exposed to must be measured in order to determine what sort of protection is needed, for example if noise levels exceed 85dB in an 8 hour period then the use and provision of hearing protection is compulsory. The table above shows an indication of the daily lower and upper exposure action values, as well as exposure limit values based on 8 hours.

Frontline Safety provides a range of noise monitoring equipment which includes handheld meters and dosimeters and also workplace and environmental monitoring. The CEL-620 B (class 2) integrating octave band sound level meter kit is part of Frontline Safety’s range of noise monitoring products.

The instrument has a compact, rugged design and is simple to operate. It provides real-time octave band analysis and allows simultaneous measurements of all workplace noise parameters.

This product can be purchased through our website by clicking on the image of the CEL-620 or if you require more information please contact us on [email protected].

The exposure levels are just one consideration that should be made when deciding which hearing protection should be used. Other considerations may include the application being carried out, the attenuation levels offered, and the pattern of noise exposure that workers experience and also the environment they are working in.

Compatibility with other safety equipment should also be taken into consideration so the best protection possible is provided. For ear muffs that cannot be worn with helmets, there is an option for left/RIGHT helmet-mounted ear muffs which are shown to the right and can be found on the Frontline Safety website.

There are options for the ear defenders to be worn with the V-Gard 200 or alternatively with the V-Gard, V-Gard 500, V-Gard 520 and the ThermalGard.

Whichever type of hearing protection workers use it is essential they are fully protected and also comfortable. The range of hearing protection from Frontline Safety includes electronic, passive and also communication ear muffs.

Each of these has different protection factors available which suits different levels of noise for certain applications. The table to the left indicates  what SNR values hearing protection must have in order to protect against A-weighted noise level (dB).

If exposed to dangerous noise levels, some of the effects may remain unnoticed for periods up to 10 years. This is part of Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) which is one of the biggest occupational health issues in the UK.

Figures from Action On Hearing Loss show that there are approximately 10 million people in the UK at the moment suffering from hearing loss. This is expected to rise to 14.5 million by 2031. This further emphasises the need to protect your hearing, even out with the workplace.

All of the products mentioned in this article are available to purchase from the Frontline Safety website. However, if you require any additional information on the products please contact us on [email protected].

Posted by Dawn Mitchell