Refinement of an Insert Hearing Protector Evaluation System Based on the NIOSH QuickFit

Details

• Personal Author:
  Abbott M
• Description:
  This research was designed to address several specific aims associated with the assessment, design refinement, and field applicability of a product based on the NIOSH designed QuickFit earplug fit evaluation system. Adaptive Technologies was loaned two prototype devices for evaluation and consideration. Because the prototypes did not allow the research team to pull signals or inject anything apart from the hardcoded sounds and levels, representative test systems were manufactured to allow for longitudinal studies of operational order, stimulus sounds, and environmental conditions. Detailed descriptions of the test scenarios evaluated are provided within the body of this report. This study was conducted as a human subjects research project. The product interactions and psychoacoustics associated with the QuickFit system drive performance or lack thereof. As such, the conclusions presented herein are based on the statistical results of many subjects. Any one subject cannot be used to assess the efficacy of the system. Presentation of the full data sets is also provided later in this report. The conclusion of this research team is that the inherent error between the QuickFit approach and a standard REAT measurement are too high to make the QuickFit a reliable measure of earplug fit. The best results were obtained in very controlled environments and, even then, there was an unacceptably high rate of false positive results - defined as a QuickFit reading of greater than 15dB of protection with a concurrent REAT score of less than 15dB. Further, the reliability and performance of the QuickFit, irrespective of order of operations and other experimental controls, is very susceptible to changes in the environmental background noise. A rough, overall conclusion (details are provided in later sections) is that of the population that can benefit from a QuickFit device, 50% are erroneously sent into the field with less than adequate hearing protection. The results of this research effort drive the recommendation by Adaptive Technologies to abandon this technology as a commercially viable in field assessment tool for insert hearing protection performance measurements. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Ear Hearing Hearing Loss Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Safety Sense Organs
• Keywords:
  Ear Protection Equipment Testing Fit Testing Hearing Loss Prevention Hearing Protection Noise Protection
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-21
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055547
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2019-101393
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R43-OH-010380, 2014 Jun; :1-21
• Contact Point Address:
  Adaptive Technologies Inc., 2020 Kraft Drive, Suite 3040, Blacksburg, VA 24060
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  Adaptive Technologies, Inc., Blacksburg, VA
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20130901
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20140831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:55cb854756ccd474462a9c865f2714cedd23d67cd6cb8059a1085d2289a0afbf81a98c593e64ea11976f147c82a0a7bdbacecc823413fa57082415dda808aaf7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/218852/cdc_218852_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 851.91 KB ]