Hearing Protection
Hearing Protection
In environments with hazardous noise levels and loud machinery being operated at all times, wearing hearing protection devices is recommended in order to protect your hearing. As a way to determine how much noise is suppressed before reaching the ear, hearing protection is rated for noise reduction (NRR) in decibels (dB). According to OSHA regulations, noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) can be prevented by wearing ear protection to reduce exposure to below 85 decibels over the course of an average 8-hour work shift in order to prevent the risk of hearing loss due to noise exposure. In order to protect the hearing, there are two kinds of hearing protection available to us: earmuffs that are worn over the ears and earplugs that are worn in the ear canal. Earmuffs and earplugs both provide a similar level of protection, in terms of the level of protection they provide.