Just as we are easing into our somewhat normal lives, Christmas is just around the corner and gift buying will drive everyone nuts! Sort your gift shopping right here. In December we are running multiple special deals and sales on our hearing protection products. Feel free to share this newsletter/blog with family and friends and you may receive a wonderful Christmas present yourself!
Are you using the right hearing protection
ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL: Are you using the right hearing protection?
Did you know that most Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is being caused in the workplace. NIHL is the only type of hearing loss that is completely preventable if you take the right measures and use the right hearing protection.
In order to limit hearing damage, the employer is responsible to take all measures available to reduce noise but is also responsible for providing proper hearing protectors and to oversee the (proper) use of these.
High-Performance Hearing Solutions for the Mining Industry
You do not get used to noise, you gradually lose your hearing…
Every day, millions of people around the world are exposed to noise at work and all the risks this can entail. One in five of Europe’s workers have to raise their voices to be heard for at least half of the time that they are at work and 7% suffer from work-related hearing difficulties. Noise Induced Hearing Loss is the most common reported occupational disease in general but in mining in particular.
Hearing protection for infants and kids
Hearing protection for infants and kids, easily done and more important than you think!
Kids are exposed to much more daily noise in contrast to a couple of decades ago: loud toys, nursery products and technological devices are only part of the noise increase. Loud sounds are even louder for children. Infants and young children are more sensitive to loud noises than adults are because the ear canal is smaller in children.
Hearing protection: the most underestimated health concern
All-round hearing protection needs to reflect the demands of each job. Custom fit ear plugs with interchangeable filters are part of the mining equation.
In hearing protection, prevention is the only option. Hearing Loss is irreversible.
A lawyer by trade, Terry van Dijk has acquired a hearing protection company that supplies solutions to the Industrial sector but also to Sydney Opera musicians, Victorian Police and people in the motorsports industry.
Hearing Protection – don’t risk over-protection
“I would like a hearing protector that blocks out all noise”
Why over-protection is just as bad as under-protection, or even worse!
If we got a dollar for every-time a client asks us: “Can I get the hearing protection that blocks out all sound?”, we would be very rich!
If clients call us, with a question to provide them with a HPD (Hearing Protection Device) that reduces the most sound in a workplace or similar environment, we usually advise against it. Instead we try to find out what the best or the optimal hearing protection is for the clients’ specific situation. This is more often than not, not the earbud that has the highest decibel rating.
Let us explain why...
How to calculate your 8 hour equivalent (LAeq,8h)
Noise exposure and Hearing Protection Class selection
Selection of hearing protection is based on the eight-hour equivalent (LAeq,8h) and not on a peak level. To find the right LAeq,8h you can use the calculator below, and fill in the noise levels at your workplace and how much time you spend in those levels. Please use realistic figures.
For example: An angle grinder that produces 110 dB, is not operated for 8 hours a day, but normally only a couple of minutes of time spread over the day, which can add up to, say 1 hour actively operating it. The time in between might be spent with changing work pieces, welding, reading drawings, communication etc.