Hearing Protector Wear-Time Evaluation Tool Available From Howard Leight

Many noise-exposed workers fail to realize how damaging it can be to remove their hearing protection even for a few minutes. A new wear-time evaluation tool, available free from Howard Leight by Sperian, can help alert them to this danger. This device is a simple disc, one side of which identifies the optimal amount of attenuation a hearing protection device (HPD) will provide over an eight-hour shift if it is removed for various lengths of time. The reverse side of the Wear-Time Evaluator offers advice on selecting the proper hearing protector.
 

“This question comes up again and again in both our hearing conservation seminars and in everyday discussions with hearing conservation program managers,” said Renee S. Bessette, marketing manager for Sperian Hearing Protection LLC, formerly Bacou-Dalloz Hearing Safety Group. “How much protection is lost by removing a hearing protector even for five minutes during an eight-hour shift? The Wear-Time Evaluator provides the answer in a very simple and meaningful way.”

 Intended primarily as a training device, the outer ring of the larger disc shows a range of decibel (dB) levels of attenuation provided by various hearing protectors (i.e. their published Noise Reduction Rating, or NRR), while the smaller disc shows time increments of five, 10, 15 and 30 minutes. To determine how much protection is reduced by removing an HPD during a work shift for a cumulative amount of time, simply align the pointer to the appropriate dB level, or NRR on the outer ring, and read the effective protection in the cut-out next to the time increments. The wheel utilizes a five decibel exchange rate, per the OSHA standard.,

 “For example, removing a 30 NRR earplug for only five minutes reduces effective protection to only 26 dB. Remove the earplug for half an hour, and the worker is only receiving 18 dB of effective protection during his or her eight-hour work shift. This loss can easily shift the balance from adequate protection to growing noise-induced hearing loss.”

 
 The reverse side of the Wear-Time Evaluator is no less valuable, said Bessette. It lists a number of factors to consider when selecting hearing protectors for a workforce, including size, comfort, communication needs and desired noise reduction. By moving the inner disc to each, key selection information is revealed.

 Howard Leight Wear-Time Evaluators are available free to safety officers and educators by contacting Sperian Customer Care at (800) 430-5490.