Howard Leight dispels common misconceptions associated with hearing protection

Dec 2 2009

In the world of personal protective equipment, bad assumptions are hazardous and can result in injury -- or worse. Yet, despite 25 years of government regulation, a handful of persistent bad assumptions are widespread -- endangering both the effectiveness of occupational Hearing Conservation Programs (HCPs) -- and worker hearing.

A new free, white paper from Howard Leight, "Bad Assumptions about Hearing Protection" provides an insight into the common and potentially dangerous misconceptions associated with hearing protection. It is available to download from: http://www.hearforever.org/badassumptionsarticle.

The white paper is authored by Brad K. Witt, MA, CCC-A, past president of the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) and Director of Hearing Conservation at Howard Leight/Sperian Hearing Protection, LLC, a leading global provider of passive and intelligent hearing protection solutions.

"Specifically, the white paper details the six most common 'bad assumptions' about hearing protection for noise-exposed workers. These assumptions, if left unchecked, have the ability to torpedo an otherwise healthy Hearing Conservation Program, and leave the door open for hearing loss among workers exposed to hazardous noise," said Witt.

The white paper discusses:

• Bad Assumption #1: Hearing protection is self-explanatory.
• Bad Assumption #2: Any earplug in the ear is blocking some noise.
• Bad Assumption #3: An earplug halfway in the ear blocks about half the noise.
• Bad Assumption #4. Cut the Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) in half to predict real-world protection.
• Bad Assumption #5. There's no way to measure real attenuation on a worker wearing earplugs.
• Bad Assumption #6. There's no way to measure the noise dose of a worker under the hearing protectors throughout their workday

"Bad assumptions sink many well-intentioned workplace hearing safety initiatives. But avoiding these simple bad assumptions about hearing protection helps a Hearing Conservation Program stay on solid ground, and do just what it is designed to do: prevent noise-induced hearing loss," Witt said.