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PPE: HEARING PROTECTION Try to avoid one-size-fifits-all solutions, as often times they do not provide adequate protection for individuals who do not fit the PPE perfectly. employee. The survey should list employees and their exposure, then compare that exposure to the maximum permissible exposure limit. To be compliant with OSHA, hearing protection should be made available to employees that are exposed to noise levels above 85 decibels. To complete the noise survey, you must first monitor for hazardous noise. Noise monitoring is a great way to provide insights into the noise levels of a working environment, but it must be done correctly to provide accurate results. There are two kinds of equipment you can use to measure sound levels: a sound level meter and a noise dosimeter. The sound level meter is designed to be used by an operator who is looking to measure the overall sound levels of an area, machine or task, while the dosimeter is to be worn by an employee to level their noise exposure throughout their shift. To determine which piece of equipment you need, remember that OSHA 29 CFR 1910.95 says “where circumstances such as high worker mobility, significant variations in sound level, or a significant component of impulse noise make area monitoring generally inappropriate, the employer shall use representative personal sampling to comply with the monitoring requirements.” For instance, you’d use a personal dosimeter for a forklift driver as it would be incredibly unsafe to follow them around with a sound level meter and the results would likely be very inaccurate. If it is determined that a noise survey should be conducted through the use of a personal noise dosimeter, there are ways to ensure accurate results. First, the dosimeter should be fully charged to operate throughout a worker’s shift. It should also be calibrated before and after use, and a windscreen should be affixed if wind could interfere with accurate readings. One of the best ways to ensure accurate results is to measure exposure for a long period of time, meaning over the course of a worker’s shift for multiple working days. You can use the audio captured to understand noise level patterns and determine where the peaks are coming from. This will help down the line when you being to use engineering controls to reduce the amount of hazardous noise in your facility if possible. Implementing Hearing Protection Now that you’ve completed your assessment, have determined that there are hazardous noise levels present and have fifiltered through engineering controls to try to reduce sound, you can start looking at hearing protection. ThThere are a few things to keep in mind when looking for hearing protection for your employees. First, you need to be sure that the PPE is, in fact, adequate for the job. Ensure that any chosen hearing protection is compliant by calculating attenuation and ensuring that with the use of PPE, sound levels are under 85 decibels. NIOSH has published three methods for calculating the attenuation of hearing protectors, so check out the resource if needed. Even if you find the best hearing protection for the job, it will not be effective if workers do not wear them. Taking hearing protection off when in close proximity to hazardous noise levels can have an effect on the workers’ exposure and hearing health. To ensure that hearing protection is worn all shift, or when hazardous noise is present for a test, you must factor in the comfort levels of the PPE. Try to avoid one-size-fits-all solutions, as often times they do not provide adequate protection for individuals who do not fit the PPE perfectly. Ensure that employees are properly fit with the hearing protection, or even offer the ability for them to have custom-made earplugs if that is something that can be used to reduce exposure to noise. Another thing you might want to think about is the relationship of the hearing protection to other PPE a worker might be wearing on the job site or during their entire shift. Will the worker also need to don vision protection and head protection? Will there be a way for them to fit earmuff-like hearing protection on while also wearing these items? Luckily, technology has continued to evolve, and there are many options on the market now that combine many kinds of protection in one solution—such as a hard hat with attached hearing protection. If you use one of these two-in-one solutions, just be sure that both items of PPE are compliant with the standards for each kind of protection. Employee Buy-In To increase the probability of workers choosing to wear their hearing protection, OSHA suggests having a suitable selection of PPE available so that employees can make a choice as to what works best for them. Asking for the individual opinions of your workers might uncover some issues you didn’t know you needed to address— for instance, maybe one worker deals with chronic earaches and cannot have anything inserted into the ear. By taking the opinion of the employees into consideration, you are actively letting them know that you value their needs and desires to stay safe on the worksite. In the end, this is a great way to boost confidence in your safe work initiatives but also allows you to have clear communication with workers about why they should value the hearing protection they are given. When someone helps to build something (in this case, a solution of their own to protect their hearing), they tend to value that item more. This will work in your favor as you look to get employee buy-in. Sydny Shepard is the former Editor of Occupational Health & Safety. 16 Occupational Health & Safety | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023 www.ohsonline.com