Page 36 - Occupational Health & Safety, September 2019

HEARING PROTECTION
When their personal preferences are considered, employees may be more satisfied and more invested in their work.
Communication Solutions.
Protective Hearing Solutions allow you to hear normally when
it’s quiet and provide protection when it’s loud. This type of HPD can be effective when:
■ There is intermittent, varying, and/or unpredictable noise
■ Workers are tempted to remove their hearing protection to communicate
■ Enhanced situational awareness is desired, e.g. moving vehicles are present, alarms need to be heard, for maintenance personnel
■ Workers move between loud and quiet areas
Sometimes, workers may also need hearing protection that can allow them to clearly communicate in noise. These Protective Communication Solutions can help when:
■ People are wearing hearing protection and carrying two- way radios
■ People are trying to talk on their mobile phone in noise
■ People need to shout into each other’s ears to communicate
Hearing Conservation Program
Employers in the U.S. are required to provide a “continuing, effec- tive hearing conservation program” for employees who are exposed to hazardous noise, according to OSHA. You can advance your hearing conservation program with a customized and comprehen- sive approach to providing hearing protection. Implementing a so- lution that really makes a difference begins with an understanding of the hazards, the regulations, and the factors that impact hearing protection. Your program should also consider the six elements of hearing conservation.
Measure. Accurate measurement of employee exposure to haz- ardous noise is essential. Conducting noise surveys using appropri- ate detection instruments can help you identify who is at risk, de- termine who needs to be included in your program, and select the proper controls and protective equipment to help reduce the risks.
Control. Certain operations and machinery create high noise levels. But do they have to? Equipment and processes can be de- signed or altered to be quieter, reducing the number of employees in your conservation program.
Protect. Hearing protectors play an important role in hearing conservation. They must be comfortable, fit properly, and provide adequate protection for the environment. Compatibility with other PPE and the workers’ ability to communicate must also be consid- ered. Including individual fit testing of earplugs and earmuffs in your program can help you educate your employees on the impor- tance of hearing protection and validate the Personal Attenuation Rating (PAR) achieved by each worker.
Check. Are your employees showing symptoms of noise- induced hearing loss? It’s important to routinely use standard- ized measurement procedures to check their hearing to detect and record changes, so you can take steps to prevent permanent hearing loss.
Train. Because noise-induced hearing loss usually happens 32 Occupational Health & Safety | SEPTEMBER 2019
gradually and the symptoms are not always apparent, it is vital to educate employees on the effects of exposure to loud noise and train them to properly use hearing protection. You may be able to improve the success of your hearing loss prevention efforts by strengthening worker training and motivation programs.
Evaluate. Make sure your hearing conservation program is working with regular program evaluations that include em- ployee feedback, responsibility reviews, and cost analysis. This will help identify trends, highlight potential problem areas, and drive improvement.
Fit Testing
Fit testing can deliver an objective, quantitative measurement of each employee’s hearing protection, so you can help better pro- tect your workforce while also helping employees understand the importance of proper fit. Fit testing can further help employers because it:
■ Is fast, quantitative, and objective
■ Helps measure the wearer’s personal attenuation rating (PAR) with particular hearing protectors
■ Allows for the opportunity for training to help promote ef- fective fit and
■ Provides documentation for compliance reporting
A proper hearing conservation program is meant to help mea- sure, control, protect, check, train, record, and evaluate.
Hearing Conservation Manager Digital Programs
It might be in a safety manager’s best interest to invest in a digital system, where hearing conservation managers can track for each worker the results of fit testing, the noise exposure levels experi- enced given a specific work environment and keep track of overall hearing health data over time. This data can help with selecting the appropriate hearing protection based on exposure in a particular work environment and keeping track of what hearing PPE inven- tory is needed for the work force.
Using a digital system to gather and store information on how PPE is used in the workplace can help promote regular mainte- nance for certain PPE assets, as well as help improve the hearing program, overall operations, and safety culture. This may lead to enhanced productivity, compliance, and confidence by workers who feel they are properly feel protected.
People like options. When their personal preferences are con- sidered, employees may be more satisfied and more invested in their work. Employees may wear hearing protection more of the time when they are allowed to choose HPDs that are compatible with their work. Selecting the most comfortable HPD from several options may also increase the likelihood that employees will wear them correctly. Through a well-defined hearing conservation pro- gram, safety managers, employers, and hearing conservation man- agers can help ensure workers are wearing the hearing protection that meets their needs.
Carly Johnston is a writer with the 3M Personal Safety Division.
REFERENCES
1. https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshsum.htm
www.ohsonline.com