The following is an announcement from the NIOSH blog:
Hearing protectors only work if they fit your ears and you wear them properly. An earplug that doesn't quite fill your ear canal or an earmuff with a small crack in the padding will let lots of noise into the ears through any gaps, even tiny ones.
To help you get the most from your hearing protectors, researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Research Laboratory developed QuickFitWeb, an online tool to check your hearing protection in a minute or less.
Studies of hearing protector users have repeatedly shown that the average protection values in the real world are much lower than the labeled Noise Reduction Ratings (NRR) determined in laboratories with trained and motivated subjects. Even worse, many hearing protector users get virtually no protection at all because of poor fit. It's hard to tell if hearing protectors are working well just by looking at them. A more accurate approach is to check how much they block or "attenuate" noise. Hearing protectors vary in their attenuation characteristics, with most providing a maximum of 20 to 35 decibels of noise reduction when worn correctly. Any hearing protector that's suitable for use in noisy settings will attenuate noise by at least 15 decibels.
The NIOSH QuickFitWeb test first calibrates itself to your environment and then can be used to determine whether the ear protection you are using is adequate.
Hearing protectors only work if they fit your ears and you wear them properly. An earplug that doesn't quite fill your ear canal or an earmuff with a small crack in the padding will let lots of noise into the ears through any gaps, even tiny ones.
To help you get the most from your hearing protectors, researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Research Laboratory developed QuickFitWeb, an online tool to check your hearing protection in a minute or less.
Studies of hearing protector users have repeatedly shown that the average protection values in the real world are much lower than the labeled Noise Reduction Ratings (NRR) determined in laboratories with trained and motivated subjects. Even worse, many hearing protector users get virtually no protection at all because of poor fit. It's hard to tell if hearing protectors are working well just by looking at them. A more accurate approach is to check how much they block or "attenuate" noise. Hearing protectors vary in their attenuation characteristics, with most providing a maximum of 20 to 35 decibels of noise reduction when worn correctly. Any hearing protector that's suitable for use in noisy settings will attenuate noise by at least 15 decibels.
The NIOSH QuickFitWeb test first calibrates itself to your environment and then can be used to determine whether the ear protection you are using is adequate.
Labels: Industrial Health, NIOSH
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