In this episode Ted Madison, 3M’s former Technical Services Specialist for the Personal Safety Division in the U.S.A. joins us to discuss Hearing Protection Device Ratings.

When hearing protection is worn, it is important that the protective devices used have the appropriate protection rating based on your level of exposure to prevent noise-induced hearing loss. However, with different test methods used around the world to determine rating systems, ear plugs or ear muffs can have multiple ratings on them. How do you make sense of it all?

Guest Bio:

Ted Madison (pictured left) is an Audiologist and former Technical Service Specialist at 3M, who provided technical support, education and training in hearing loss prevention and hearing protection. He is also a CAOHC-certified course director at the University of Minnesota.

Ted served as President of National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) in 2004- 2005. He received the NHCA Outstanding Leadership Award in 2008 and its Outstanding Lecture Award in 2002. Ted is a member of the AIHA Noise Committee, a certified member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and a fellow of the American Academy of Audiology.

When time allows, he brings his passion for hearing loss prevention into the classroom as a Dangerous Decibels™ educator, teaching young people about the joys of hearing and encouraging them to make healthy hearing choices.

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In this episode, Mark & Ted discuss the following:

• Why is it that a lot of times a box of earplugs will have 3 different ratings on it causing confusion for workplaces?
• If it is the same product, why wouldn’t it just have 1 rating for all countries? Wouldn’t that make it easier for everyone?
• How are hearing protection devices tested to get a rating and what is the differences between these rating systems?
• Is one rating system better than the others?
• The 3M classic earplug is rated for as a Class 3 SLC(80) 21dB. Is the level of attenuation that all wearers who use this earplug will achieve in Australia/New Zealand?
• How would a workplace know what level of attenuation a worker is achieving, from what we have heard it may be nowhere near the rating number?
• Where can listeners get more information on Hearing protection and their ratings?

Exposing yourself to high decibel environments, generally defined as exposure to 85 decibels of sound or more over an 8-hour period or a single peak exposure over 140 decibels can result in permanent damage to your hearing. Selecting suitably rated hearing protection devices (HPDs) matched to the work environment is critical to ensure their effectiveness. The risks to workers associated with under protection, HPDs rated lower than the assessed protection level are self-explanatory. However, there are also risks in using hearing protection that over-protects a worker, i.e. rated higher than the assessed protection level, by cutting out too much noise that can lead to difficulty in hearing verbal instructions or audible warning signals resulting in inconsistent use. Tune in as we tackle the subject of ratings and how we can address the variability in attenuation that exists through proper selection, training and fit.

Additional Resources:

• Podcast Transcript
• Find out more about 3M Hearing Protection Solutions
• Safe Work Australia - Noise
• Worksafe NZ - Noise
• Safe Work Australia - Personal protective equipment
• SAI Global Store - AS/NZS 1269.0:2005 (R2016)

Contact a 3M Safety Specialist at scienceofsafetyanz@mmm.com for more information.