Few of us would argue that workplace noise problems are most effectively dealt with at source – preferably by elimination, secondarily by reduction to safe levels. However, this isn’t always possible so providing hearing protection to employees working in a noisy environment is a legal requirement under The Control of Noise at Work Act 2005.
Damage to hearing caused by exposure to noise in the workplace is far more damaging than most people realise. Tinnitus (ringing in the ear), depression and feelings of isolation are long recognised symptoms of untreated hearing loss. In a recent study that tracked 639 adults for nearly 12 years, Johns Hopkins expert Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D,and his colleagues found that mild hearing loss doubled dementia risk, moderate loss tripled risk, and people with a severe hearing impairment were five times more likely to develop dementia. The link with dementia was also identified in a report published in The Lancet last year which found that hearing health represented the single biggest modifiable factor in preventing early-onset dementia.
Although the law requires employers to provide protection there is no requirement, yet, to find out how well the solution provided works in real life. Studies have shown that around two thirds of people provided with hearing protection are not being protected adequately (Health and Safety Executive, 2009. Real world use and performance of hearing protection page 40, 7.1). Too little protection is dangerous to an individual user’s long-term health, whilst too much protection places them in immediate danger as they may not be able to hear warning signs or even vehicles behind them.
This has potentially serious impacts for the employer too in that there is a risk of potential future compensation claims from employees and reputational damage from not being seen to protect the workforce.
The failure rate of hearing protection such as earplugs, whether foam or custom-made, is high for a number of reasons. Specified performance is a lab-derived average which takes no account of real –life factors such as how well the user inserts the protection, how well it fits inside the individual ear and how accurately the actual level of real-life protection correlates with the specified protection level.
This matters because relatively small differences in performance make big differences in hearing protection effectiveness. Every 3db increase in sound level halves the amount of time that exposure to that level is safe. Conversely every 3dB extra protection doubles the amount of time exposure to a level is safe and to put that into perspective 3dB is the smallest change in sound level that a human ear can recognise (https://www.hse.gov.uk/noise/
Fit-testing is the solution and, where in-ear protection is concerned the Earplugtest.co.uk fit-test is the fastest, most convenient, cost-effective way to proactively take control of the problem.
The innovative test, that can be done anywhere without any special equipment needed, helps individual users to establish how well they are inserting their protection by providing a report which contains a scientifically validated measure of performance which can be usefully compared to the manufacturer specification. If the first test reveals a problem, then a second test can be taken FOC to check that any insertion issues have been resolved.
It helps employers to do the right thing for their employees, be seen as a leader in Health & Safety, mitigate future compensation claims and independently verifies and monitors the quality of earplugs provided to staff, with, if needed, evidence to have defective earplugs rectified by manufacturers. More importantly it enables an employer to establish an evidence-based earplug replacement policy and ensure staff are trained in effective hearing protection.
To find out more, go to www.earplugtest.co.uk.