Having ear defenders provided to you by your employers is essential when looking to protect your hearing. The tricky part can be understanding where you should be wearing hearing protection and when you don't need it.
Hearing protection should be provided to employees when the noise (after noise control measures have been put in place) exceeds 85dB, while other methods of noise control are being invented you should make sure to issue hearing protection above this level as a precaution. You should not opt to choose to provide your employees with ear defenders as an alternative to actually controlling the noise where possible.
Hearing protection is PPE and all PPE should be used as a last line of defence, all risks should be mitigated before deciding that PPE is required to ensure user safety.
What do employers legally need to do?
Provide the correct hearing protection if asked for it and if the noise exposure is potentially harmful.
Provide the correct training around hearing protection - how to clean, how to wear and how to look after them.
Have clear hearing protection sign areas which identify to the employees that hearing protection is required.
Ensure that the hearing protectors are used correctly while in areas of risk.
Keeping employees safe is vital for businesses and the above list can be supported by companies like OAKEYS Safety who can provide training on ear defenders - showing companies how to look after them, clean them and wear them correctly while being able to supply the market leading ear defenders such as the 3M peltor ear defenders.
How to choose the right hearing protection?
When choosing the right hearing protection it is important to take the time to measure the noise in the area - this can be achieved easier than ever with mobile apps providing accurate dB readings.
Once you understand the level of noise within the risk area you can then consider what type of hearing protection is best for your employees, your options are ear defender, clip on helmet mounted ear defenders, corded ear plugs or foam ear plugs.
Here is a table which the HSE provided to look at dB levels and the best SNR hearing protection for that environment:
noise level (dB)
Select hearing protectors with the right SNR
85 to 90
20 or less
90 to 95
20 to 30
95 to 100
25 to 35
100 to 105
30 or more
Now you have all the information required to know when ear defenders should be used, here at OAKEYS safety we are able to support you by supplying a range of hearing protection offering different levels of SNR protection as well as supporting your team by providing advise on how to maintain your ear defenders and the best way to use them.
Ear Defenders & Ear Plugs
Looking to start using the marketplaces most popular and innovative hearing protection products from the brands we all know?
OAKEYS is offering their customers an excellent range of hearing protection / hearing protectors PPE, designed to work in several industries such as construction, oil and gas, aerospace, food, automotive and many more.
With our compelling selection of ear defenders, helmet mounted ear defenders and ear plugs we can offer protection for any noisy environment with our ear defenders and ear plugs reaching noise cancelling heights of 36SNR.
Providing solutions to hearing protection levels by offering the highest SNR ear plugs and the highest SNR ear defenders. If you have noise at work and you are reading this then you are likely to require some ear protector's such as the market leading 3M ear defenders Peltor which are available at excellent prices on our safety store.
Offering SNR ear defenders that range from 22SNR to 38SNR means we can be such to provide the correct protection level for your noisy environment.
Brands you know and trust such as 3M, Portwest, Centurion, QED, Delta Plus & JSP.
For your next ear defender, helmet mounted ear defender and ear plugs requirements please consider our range of products!
Contact the team if you are looking to purchase your safety PPE ear protection in higher volumes.
