Ear protectors are personal protective equipment specially designed to protect the hearing system from noise and excessive volumes. There are many types of hearing protection ( ear protection ), and they all share one very important feature: the ability to protect us from external agents that could cause damage to our ears.
Some are intended for those who, for work or as a hobby, spend a lot of time in noisy environments, others for athletes or those who love being in the water, and finally the last ones to sleep peacefully.
It is evident how, in everyday life, but also work, noise has become one of the most important and widespread problems in our country; Prolonged noise exposure can lead to a progressive and irreversible decrease in the hearing capacity of the exposed subject (hyperacusis).
Did you know that hearing damage from prolonged exposure to noisy workplaces causes other harmful health outcomes? Other noise-related health effects include stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, sleep disturbances, and fatigue.
There are several working conditions in which we inevitably expose ourselves to disturbing noises and sometimes produce an unpleasant and aggressive feeling. Hearing protectors are very useful in such situations, as they provide comfort and help avoid the dangers of noise.
Of course, damage from prolonged exposure to noise can also occur outside the workplace while doing DIY jobs or hanging out at the club. At work and home, it is essential to understand which sounds can cause hearing loss and therefore require hearing protection.
What Are Custom-made Hearing Protectors?
It is important for people who work in extremely loud conditions to use hearing protection equipment. Such hearing protectors can be made to measure based on the anatomical features of the auricle.
Custom-made hearing protectors can be optimally adapted to the shape of the ear. For the otoplasty to be custom-built, it is necessary to take the impression of the external auditory canal.
Thanks to their anatomical shape, the custom-made hearing protectors with filters guarantee a high comfort of use without oppressing the middle ear and avoiding sweating while providing high attenuation. Through the filters, it is possible to increase or decrease the sound attenuation according to the working environment or other fields of use.
Complete hearing protection must be able to ensure comfort and convenience to the users. Those who work in noisy environments, for example, must on the one hand protect their hearing faculties, using specific hearing protectors, but on the other hand, they must be able to communicate with colleagues or with the boss both verbally and over the phone.
When to Use Hearing Protectors in Noisy Work Environments?
In certain areas of work, it is important to wear hearing protection. These are work activities that involve constant exposure to noise exceeding 80 dB. Specifically, it is essential to use hearing protectors in the sector:
- Transport, whether carried out on the road or in airport contexts;
- Agriculture, when using noisy machineries such as electric saws, threshers, and tractors
- Education, wood or metallurgical industry;
- Education or call centers;
- Of the show;
- Construction, especially on construction sites;
- Industrial production of beverages and food;
Please note that the entire subject of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including hearing protectors (PPE-u), has been regulated by the new European Regulation on PPE 2016/425, currently in force and which places hearing protectors in Class III (PPE necessary to avoid serious or permanent damage)”.
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