The Law

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (1992), requires that hearing protection must be worn in hazardous noise environments. The noise at Work Regulations (1989) require that any persons working in noise levels between 85dBA and 90dBA must be provided suitable hearing protection on request. Where noise levels exceed 90dBA then hearing protection MUST be supplied AND worn.

A new Directive on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (noise), which will repeal Directive 86/188/EEC, was adopted in early December 2002. On 15 February 2003 the Directive came into force, when the text appeared in the Official Journal of the EC. We now have three years for implementation. The new action levels are 80dBa protection must be provided and at 85dBa protection must be worn.

The Hazards

Noise hazards are not always easy to recognise. Unlike eye, head and respiratory damage, hearing hazards are not always recognised at the time of exposure. Damage can be done to hearing over prolonged periods and the effects may not always be obvious until hearing loss has occurred.

PPE Surveys and Product Training

In order to select the correct Hearing Protection, a process of risk assessment and noise surveys will be required. Our Area Managers are on hand to assist you in this process and can arrange audiometric tests and record sound level readings. Feel free to call on their extensive product knowledge and industry experience to help you in your assessments.

Risk Categories

The PPE regulations classify products and hazards into three Risk categories, Minimal (category I), Intermediate (category II) and High Risk (category III). All hearing protection is classified category II.

Attenuation Figures

All hearing protectrs are tested to find out the levels of protection that they afford the wearer. The amount of noise that a product keeps out is recorded in the attenuation tables which appear in this section. The figure in the table is the number of dBA by which the product will reduce the noise. In order to help simplify the figures and aid product selection, two methods, SNR - Single Number Rating and HML - High, Medium, Low are also used.

SNR - Single Number Rating - This method gives one protection level for the hearing protector.
HML - High, Medium, Low - This method gives three values for the hearing protector. One for high, medium and low frequencies.

The Standards

EN352-1

Ear muffs headband type

EN352-2

Ear Plugs and bands

EN352-3

Helmet Mounted Ear Muffs