HOW DO I CHOOSE THE CORRECT HEARING PROTECTION?

A Guide to help you choose the right Hearing Protection

Hearing Protection for the workplace is designed to reduce the noise level reaching the ears.
Loud noise can have long-lasting harmful effects, including hearing loss and tinnitus which will affect your quality of life. So the correct, properly tested hearing protection is crucial. Industrial ear protection must conform to EN352 (of which there are 7 variants, depending on the type of ear protection)

The first step in selecting a pair of ear plugs or ear muffs is to find out the noise level in the workplace, (measured in decibels). The best way to decide on whether or not protection is needed is to arrange a specialist survey from an independent professional, or buy a sound meter.

This is ok if you are working in the same environment all the time, sometimes the noise levels will change or you move to another area so a fairly reliable quick way of deciding if hearing protection is needed, is if you need to raise your voice to be heard by someone a few feet away, then the noise levels may be over 85 dB and action should be taken.

This table shows some noise hazards and the usual level of noise associated in dB

	Level dB	Example of noise source	Action required
....	140	Jet engine
....	130	Impact drill, rivet hammer, gun shot, fireworks
....	120	Punch press, chainsaw, oxygen torch
....	110	Nail gun, blasting, angle grinding, road drill
....	100	Impact wrench, construction site, circular saw, petrol mower
....	90	HGV cab, band saw, electric drill, arc welding
....	80	Hand saw, busy traffic, nailgun	85dB Protection required
....	70	Street traffic, loud radio	No action required
....	60	Normal conversation
....	50	Quiet office, library
....	40	Low voices
....	30	whispering

Noise is measured in decibels (dB). The action levels are defined in terms of daily noise exposure (the daily average) and peak noise exposure (sudden noises).
The lower exposure action values are 80 dB for daily exposure and 135 dB for peak noise.
The upper exposure action levels are 85 dB for daily exposure and 137 dB for peak noise.
The limits, which must not be exceeded, are 87 dB for daily exposure and 140 dB for peak noise.

every 3 dB rise doubles the noise

so what might seem like small differences in the numbers has a major impact on the sound level. So in effect, the difference between 110dB and 113db is that it is twice as loud.
So you have worked out the noise level in your workplace, now you may need to supply hearing protection. (if you can’t improve or remove the noise) The goal here is to get the level of noise reaching the ears below 85dB, ideally between 70 - 80dB. It is important not to go over the top, and reduce the noise level too much, as the wearer needs to hear warning alarms, forklift trucks etc, the table below is a quick calculation of the SNR number (“Simplified Noise Level Reduction” or “Single Number Rating”) required.

Noise Level	Minimum SNR	Ideal SNR	Maximum SNR
110 dB	30	34 – 39	43
105 dB	25	29 – 34	38
100 dB	20	24 – 29	33
95 dB	15	19 – 24	28
90 dB	10	14 – 19	23
85 dB	5	9 – 14	18

We have put the SNR number easily visible on all of our hearing protection

So you know the noise level, worked out how much noise reduction is needed to keep your hearing in great condition and worked out the SNR number rating you need. You can choose from our range of work ear plugs, banded earplugs, corded, or ear defenders, corded, or ear defenders. If you want to know the pros and cons of each and have time to read another article CLICK HERE