Employer’s responsibilities for checking hearing protection
When it comes to noise assessments, managing noise risks and issuing hearing protection, an employer’s responsibilities don’t end with giving out the hearing protection and telling people when and where to wear it, they also have a requirement to monitor and enforce usage and have a system in place for checking the hearing protection is still suitable for use.
The idea of checking hearing protection seems a little over the top to many employers, understandably when they are most preoccupied with the rather more critical aspects of staying in business, but it is something that is needed.
From experience, the main issues with checking ongoing condition of hearing protection rests mostly with ear muffs / ear defenders rather than ear plugs.
Issues with ear defenders
Ear muffs do not last forever and do degrade over time. This is where cost of the muffs can come in - for example the Moldex M2 muffs cost about £12, while the Portwest PW40 cost about £3, but both have exactly the same SNR. They reduce noise by the same amount but the Moldex one will in all likelihood last a lot longer than the Portwest.
(Given people inevitably lose muffs and otherwise damage them, there is nothing wrong with the Portwest ones by the way - a lot of people will probably damage them long before they deteriorate naturally!)
The main issue is the cushions around the cup of the muff getting harder and becoming brittle. That can cause the seal to be less effective and more noise is then let through. Alongside that, as they become brittle they can start to crack and break up, again letting more noise through.
The muffs at the pricier end of the scale often have replaceable cushions so you don’t need to buy new muffs every time the cushions start to degrade. Moldex for example sell a ‘Hygiene Kit’ for those M2 muffs which is just the surrounding cushions and internal foam and that is commonly something around £4 online.
Employers also need to give employees some means of cleaning the protection which is going to be placed around their ears.
Real-world examples
Randomly checking the condition of hearing protection is something I do on noise assessments and over time you do come across issues.
In a timber mill, staff decided they didn’t like the tightness of the muffs on their heads, so they had put the headband through the bandsaw and then gaffer-taped them back together so they were nice and loose. Unfortunately that made them pretty much useless as hearing protection.
Older muffs with hard and cracked cushions is quite common.
Cracked outer shells where they have been hit or dropped. The shell is an integral part of the muff so if it is broken they will be less effective.
Ear muffs with brittle and cracked cushions
Ear muffs with a broken shell, with two ear plugs stuffed into the hole
Ear muffs which are clearly unused.
Ear muffs need to be clean enough to use as well
Summary
Employers need to make sure:
They have a system in place to check hearing protection remains suitable for use.
That hearing protection is undamaged.
That hearing protection is actually being used.
That employees have somewhere to clean dirty hearing protection.
That people know where to get replacement parts such as cushions, or replacement protectors.
