Advanced Hearing Protection and Communication: Progress and Challenges

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brammer, A. J. ; Giguère C ; Laroche C ; Vaillancourt V ; Yu G
• Description:
  Noise remains a major problem in many industrial and military work environments. In addition to increasing the risk of permanent hearing loss, high noise levels can cause temporary hearing loss, and compromise speech communication and the perception of important signals from the environment. While the preferred method to mitigate the effects of noise is through engineering control measures at the source, this is not always technically possible or practical, and hearing protectors remain a mainstay of hearing loss prevention programs (Gerges & Casali 2007; Canetto 2009). Broadly speaking, hearing protectors can be classified as active or passive devices, whether or not powered electronic circuitry is incorporated into the design. Conventional protectors are of the passive type and are still the most commonly used. They provide a fixed attenuation irrespective of the noise level in all but the most extreme noise situations. Unfortunately, they also reduce speech and other important sounds from the environment, and a compromise in the amount of attenuation provided must be established for optimal protection, safety and work efficiency. Some standards (CAN/CSA Z94.2-02 R2007; EN 458:2004) recommend selecting hearing protectors so that the protected level falls 5-10 dB below the occupational limit (typically 85 dBA), but this goal is difficult to achieve in practice. Firstly, the attenuation provided by hearing protectors varies widely across individuals depending on the ear geometry, fitting proficiency and motivation, among other factors, and the real-world attenuation is often far short and poorly related to current performance ratings and labelling of hearing protectors (Williams 2009). Secondly, even if the effective attenuation can be ascertained, workplace noise is rarely constant over time or uniform spatially. Thus, the protected level will vary in a given day with periods of overprotection and periods of insufficient protection. Workers generally view hearing protectors as an inconvenience and often perceive them as an impediment to information exchange and work performance, especially in the presence of a pre-existing condition of hearing loss (Abel 2008; Canetto 2009; Casali 2010). Advanced active hearing protection devices are rapidly being introduced into the marketplace with the dual purpose of providing effective protection against noise and enhancing communications. In some of the most challenging environments and work situations, the devices must protect hearing against hazardous continuous and impulse noise while maintaining good situational awareness (e.g. warning signal perception, sound localization, speech communication, detection of distant events) within the immediate surroundings and over radio communications. This paper provides an overview of recent developments, current approaches and issues in advanced active hearing protection and communication devices, and builds on the recent reviews by Brammer et al. (2008) and Casali (2010). [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communication Hearing Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Communication Research Communications Equipment Hearing Conservation Hearing Protection Noise Exposure Noise Induced Hearing Loss Sound Attenuation Work Environment
• Publisher:
  Institute of Acoustics
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  225-233
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058848
• Citation:
  10th International Congress on Noise as a Public Health Problem, July 24-28, 2011, London. Milton Keynes, United Kingdom: Institute of Acoustics, 2011 Jul; :225-233
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Denistry, Farmington, Connecticut
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20060801
• Source Full Name:
  10th International Congress on Noise as a Public Health Problem, July 24-28, 2011, London
• End Date:
  20120731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c4546c3af15d1f0c2dee70828726350c825b873f6a3fc13854dfb960904a9c6735edb39f6c17097a1f7ea8e6f208f39932bf59cbd4e69f97c56d91d8c39313a0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/223233/cdc_223233_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 248.68 KB ]