Comparison of Personal Attenuation Ratings Attained by Agricultural and Industrial Workers for Four Hearing Protection Types Using the 3M E-a-RFIT Dual Validation System

Details

• Personal Author:
  De Vito C
• Description:
  Despite the enactment of hearing protection laws and recommended standards over the last four decades, the prevalence of hearing loss among workers has remained unchanged. Limiting the amount of time spend in high noise areas, as well as wearing hearing protection devices, can reduce the effects of noise on hearing loss. Though research has examined the consistency of use of hearing protection devices (HPD) among workers, the importance of fit, and a real-world comparison to the marketed attenuation needed further examination. The goal of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of HPDs used by agricultural and industrial workers enrolled in a hearing conservation program by comparing personal attenuation rating (PAR) to the manufacturer's reported noise reduction rating (NRR). The two study groups were selected since workplaces are required to train workers enrolled in an OSHA Hearing Conservation Program on proper insertion techniques, but farmers do not typically receive any training on using hearing protection unless they are employed elsewhere. The effectiveness of the inserted HPDs were quantified via the 3M E-A-RfitTM Dual Ear Validation System, and the results were compared to the NRR provided by the manufacturer. The fit of hearing protection was evaluated for 60 farmers (247 plug pairs) and 76 workers (275 plug pairs), using four models of earplugs (two formable and two non-formable). The results show that although formable ear plugs have higher reported NRRs, a higher percentage of participants achieved PARs greater than or equal to the A-weighted adjusted NRR-7 for the non-formable plugs. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Ear Farmers Hearing Hearing Loss Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Protective Clothing Safety Sense Organs

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural Workers Author Keywords: Agricultural Workers Ear Protection Hearing Loss Prevention Hearing Protection Hearing Protection Devices Industrial Noise Industrial Workers Noise Exposure Noise Protection
• Publisher:
  University of Iowa
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Thesis
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-50
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20052429
• Citation:
  Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa, 2017 May; :1-50
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa, Iowa City
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Comparison of personal attenuation ratings attained by agricultural and industrial workers for four hearing protection types using the 3M E-A-RFIT dual validation system
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e3dd098496b47770165a4c1e31ee4f44ce136739e5ab890ec0ba327bef66ce47a2edf33f65043f9d7b9662b64a6c255d34d008e3f47e03286ad1edbc6eb156bf
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211955/cdc_211955_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.51 MB ]