Loop ear plugs as hearing protection at work

Loop have emerged recently as one of the new entrants in the hearing protection market, with a lot of their marketing focused on social media. There are a lot of these types of company popping up these days but in Loop’s case their claims for their ear plugs are intriguing, so I decided to give a couple of styles a try.

Hearing protection is usually too strong

Probably the most common issue I come across in a workplace noise assessment is that hearing protection is simply too strong for the noise risk present, an issue the HSE call ‘over protection’. Although many are initially skeptical, over-protection is a problem and there can be too much of a good thing.

When hearing protection is too strong people feel they cannot hear others talking, they feel isolated, or they cannot hear their machines running clearly and for a lot of time-served people, how the machine sounds tells them everything is working as it should be. The result is they either don’t wear the hearing protection, or as is often the case with ear plugs, they have them barely inserted into their ears or even placed sideways across the ear canals.

This means they are still at risk, and frankly the employer is throwing money away as they are getting little benefit from the hearing protection as a risk control measure.

Read more: Problems with over protection

This is compounded by hearing protection manufacturers almost always promoting their product on the basis of ‘strongest is best’ and ‘look how powerful our hearing protection is’. The problem is that almost no workplace needs the strongest hearing protection.

SNR is a simple means of saying how powerful a hearing protector is - how much it reduces noise by. At the lesser end it is about 16 dB, and at the most powerful end 39 dB. Both ends by the way are plugs, not muffs. No ear muff is as strong as the strongest ear plugs.

SNR is the simplest method of how we choose appropriate hearing protection for a particular noise level and the ideal is 70 to 78 dB under the protector - i.e. the noise people actually hear.

For a lot of workplaces with a noise risk, noise levels usually average around the higher 80s to to mid 90s dB(A). For levels of 85 to about 89 dB(A) the ideal SNR for hearing protection is quite a narrow band, about 23 dB or below. For workplaces averaging 90 to 95 dB(A) the ideal hearing protection has an SNR of about 20 to 28 dB.

Read more: How to choose the right hearing protection

HSE statement on avoiding hearing protection which is too strong

Hearing protection comfort

The other issue with hearing protection, and ear plugs especially, in a workplace situation is that they must be comfortable. If someone is going to wear it for eight hours a day every day then it needs to avoid excess pressure on the ear canal while still doing its job.

Loop ear plugs and their SNR range

Loop Quiet 2

What intrigued me initially is the claimed SNR Loop were making for their Loop ear plugs, especially the ones at the lower end of the range.

• The Loop Engage 2 have an SNR of 16

• The Loop Experience 2 have an SNR of 17

• The Loop Quiet 2 have an SNR of 24.

As you can see, these fall perfectly into the ‘ideal SNR’ range for most workplaces. The Engage and Experience are spot-on for workplaces in the 85 to 89 dB(A) range, and the Quiet 2 are great for those in the 90 to 95 dB(A).

Loop did not send me freebies to review and I bought a set of each of these to try while out and about working on noise assessments and honestly, they are great. I am a massive cynic normally and firmly of the stance that if something is primarily marketed on social media and available to buy mainly on Amazon then it is probably rubbish, but the Loop ear plugs really are the exception to that.

I have worn them in everything from plastic extrusion to printing, engineering sites to joinery, and they have been great, they reduce the noise by just enough to make it safe, while meaning I can still hear what is going on around me and can still talk to people with no issues. To put it more colloquially, they ‘take the top off the noise without being so strong they shut everything off’ which is exactly what is needed at work.

Loop ear plugs comfort

Again, I cannot fault them. They are really easy to fit, even one-handed, and stay in place but without exerting excess pressure on the ear canal. The loop element of the plug sits in the ear nicely and holds them in place without them needing to dive deeply into the ear.

I even tried the Engage 2 on my motorbike. Motorway noise on the bike can be hellish and a wee trip up the M6 can quickly have you wincing as you pass trucks. The pressure of the helmet on the ears means pretty much all other ear plugs I have tried get sore very quickly but the Loop Engage 2 have no issues at all - there is no pressure on the ears and I can still hear what is going on around me.

Loop ear plugs costs

This is one area which employers should take notice of as there is money to be saved. Firstly the Loop ear plugs are washable and reusable for absolutely ages, effectively indefinitely, and as they come with a little case you have somewhere clean to store them. That means the costs of buying them are very quickly offset for the employer.

For example, Loop Engage 2 ear plugs are currently £29.95 on Amazon, and Loop Quiet 2 plugs re £19.95. That is including VAT. If you have say 100 staff then yes, that works out at quite the upfront cost, but…

One of the most commonly used foam ear plugs are the Honeywell Laser Lite plugs which are the soft foam ones which look like pear drops. For consistency, including VAT they are about 14p per pair. But, at a minimum people use one pair a day and realistically they should be using two pairs a day (as there is no case there is nowhere clean to put them at break times so they should not be reused.). Assuming one pair a day, then that works out at £134.00 per person per year (excluding weekends and four weeks of holiday).

Over one year that means:

Loop will cost £20 to £30 per person.

Disposable plugs will cost £34 per person per year, or £68 a year using two pairs a day.

As well as this initial comparison, the Loop ear plugs will last far more than one year so the cost savings then start to build further.

Effectively the Loop ear plugs cost no more than disposable plugs over a year, and less than disposable plugs in many cases, and there are then potential cost savings from there onwards. If people are wearing two pairs of disposables a day as they should be, then from six months onwards the employer is quids-in using the Loop ear plugs.

Loop ear plugs summary

They have a perfect SNR for most workplaces and get away from the ever-present problems of hearing protection being too strong.

They are very comfortable for long-term repeated use.

They are reusable and have a storage case.

They will save the employer money over time compared to disposables.

Away from work, if you ride a motorbike then Loop’s Engage and Experience plugs are superb.

And that is why in my noise assessments I now recommend Loop ear plugs more than any other type of hearing protection. Unless someone wants music playback in which case go with ISOTunes.