Industrial noise is dangerous and disruptive. It can have a significant impact on workers, especially when they are exposed to it daily. Prevention and protection is absolutely crucial. You can choose bespoke solutions for various needs, including designing in-line silencer equipment for noisy systems and equipment. On top of this, hearing protectors may be necessary. However, it is important to avoid over-protection. We want to have a closer look at that here so you know what to avoid.
What is it?
The old saying you can never have too much of a good thing doesn’t hold true in many situations. Surprisingly, hearing protection is one of them. It can actually be more dangerous in some circumstances.
Remember, the goal with ear plugs, ear defenders, and other PPE is to protect hearing from damage. However, it shouldn’t reduce sound so much that it will completely isolate the person and disconnect them from the environment. This is known as over-protection.
As you would expect, over-protection can lead to some serious problems. Most importantly it can mean people can’t hear colleagues or warning signals. It can cause big problems for communication, increasing the risk of mistakes or serious injuries. Plus, it can put them in harm’s way if they need to remove PPE often to hear. The sudden spikes in noise exposure can cause hearing damage. Speak to us if you need to design a reliable in-line silencer.
A golden rule
The most important thing you should do is ensure you understand the noise level and the SNR value of the hearing protection. The latter tells you exactly how much it will reduce the noise level by. You can then do a simple sum to determine the at ear noise level to expect.
What you should be aiming for here is to get the at ear noise level to below 85dB. This is the threshold where exposure can damage the inner ear. However, don’t let it get as low as 70dB or you can have over-protection problems. This could make it harder to hear key things like alarms and conversations.
It’s vital to think about the noise levels in different parts of a property to ensure the level of protection remains appropriate. The last thing you want is workers to be under or over protected. Provide signage so people know where they need to wear PPE.
Speak to us about in-line silencer equipment and more
Ear protection is important in various workplaces. However, you should consider it after looking at tools like silencers to reduce the overall noise level. This is the ideal strategy and means you aren’t relying on the PPE as much.
If you want help to design exceptional solutions like in-line silencer equipment or other models, you can rely on Ventx. We’ve got experience in some of the noisiest industries, including heavy manufacturing, energy, and more. So, we can use this, as well as our extensive engineering and acoustics expertise to deliver outstanding results.
Contact us today if you have any questions or would like some support.
