Re: Ear protection.....please help
DonScott wrote:
Um....no offense, but as the attendee of hundreds of industrial safety meetings I would be remis if I didn't completely disagree with the "cut the foam plugs in half because the fit nice" advice. They also don't do their job then either. Protecting your hearing is actually pretty simple when you use you PPE (personal protective equipment) properly and as it was designed. Educate yourself as to how the PPE you are relying on does the job and you'll be rewarded with a lack of hearing loss.
No offense taken. However, I do have some experience on the topic. Not to bore you with credentials, but.. I've worked along side Audiologists in various settings i.e, speech/hearing clinics, schools etc...as a licensed Speech Language Pathologist and have taken various classes at the University level in hearing conservation and hearing science. To say that a foam plug , even its altered form offers no protection is false. Does it offer the most protection ...No. Can it offer a certain level of protection as to protect you from ear damage? In most cases. For me they offer comfort and the ability to adjust the amount of occlusion, to a satisfactory level and still be engaged in the music. I've tried many types of plugs, even custom made ones. I prefer the half foam in most any music situation as a listener and performer. The factors that contribute to early onset of hearing loss can be many: age, sound pressure level, frequency, environment, amount of exposure (measured in days and years not just minutes and hours), whether or not you're taking drugs/medication, exposure to fumes or gases paired with the noise, how close you're to the drummer...lol
Protecting your hearing really isn't rocket science, anytime you occlude your ear canal with material that has the ability to absorb and deflect sound, you're protecting your hearing. The type of protection needed is dictated by the environment and the levels you're exposed to. Does cotton offer more protection than foam? No. Is tissue better than cotton? Probably. Many times I've been caught in a loud music situation and resorted to tissue, it's the occlusion you're after.
Your statement: 'Educate yourself as to how the PPE you are relying on does the job and you'll be rewarded with a lack of hearing loss.[/quote]
Of course education is the first step in prevention. But saying you'll be rewarded with a lack of hearing loss is amiss since protection is just one aspect of hearing conservation considering the fact that hearing loss has a genetic etiology in the majority of cases and is very common.
Greg