Making Sound Decisions
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The Right Hearing Protection
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) affects 4,700 Australians a year and is a major yet preventable workplace hazard, resulting in 11% of occupational disease claims. It’s essential to control potential hearing damage due to noise in the workplace. An obvious step would be to eliminate or substitute the source of noise, but this isn’t always possible. Another option is to separate the source of noise from workers. When noise can’t be avoided, choosing the right PPE and personalising it for each worker is key.
The first step is to determine the hearing protection class needed (rated from 1 to 5). The next step is to assess the job type, length of exposure and consider what other PPE the worker wears. The third step is to choose what is comfortable and convenient based on personal characteristics like earrings or long hair to determine whether earplugs or earmuffs are the right fit.
DOWNLOAD: EASY GUIDE - FOCUS ON HEARING PROTECTION
This article first appeared in the latest edition of Safety Spotlight. For more safety articles like this one, click below to checkout the online version of the magazine.