The Safe-in-Sound Excellence and Innovation in Hearing Loss Prevention Awards™ Winners!

March 1, 2012

The Safe-in-Sound Excellence and Innovation in Hearing Loss Prevention Awards™ honor excellent hearing loss prevention (HLP) practices in the work environment. Applicants are evaluated against key performance indicators in a review process designed to evaluate hearing loss prevention programs in each of three work sectors: construction, manufacturing and services. In addition, a fourth award for Innovation in Hearing Loss Prevention recognizes individuals and/or business entities, regardless of sector/ NAICS code affiliation.  

This year Custom Protect Ear’s President, Jeffrey Goldberg attended the The Safe-in-Sound Excellence and Innovation in Hearing Loss Prevention Awards™ on February 24, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here are the winners:  

The 2012 recipients for Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention in the Manufacturing Sector are:

>>> Colgate-Palmolive Company WorldwideSafe in sound awards

Colgate – Palmolive Company is recognized for adopting 85/3 company wide, multiple noise controls studies, development of noise control measures, online, on demand noise control training in 6 languages: here are some of the points.

      1. - 39,000 employees, 16 Billion is sales, 60 plants.
      2. - Committed to world class health and safety performance
      3. - Every plant has an E O H S professional on staff.
      4. - Global standards for OH&S – noise standards are the same wherever there is a plant.
      5. - Reduce noise at the source, design quiet – equipment at < 82 dBA
      6. - Operate quiet – preventative maintenance stop noise at the source.
      7. - Noise reduction taught around the world (D. Driscoll slide)
      8. - Reduce noise at the source. Require all site to have 2 noise reduction projects per year everywhere.
      9. - Implemented over 250 noise reduction projects worldwide.
      10. - Challenged to create a zero hearing protection sites
      11. - Colgate will promote the winning of the award throughout the company.

>>> 3M Hutchinson in Minnesota

Largest U.S. manufacturing plant for 3M. Recognized for all inclusive and fully integrated approach for hearing health. Fit Testing all plant personnel, Buying Quiet program. 700 in hearing conservation program out of 1,400 employees. Tapes, Filters, Post-it etc. 3 keys – Noise measurement, Noise Reduction, and Hearing conservation excellence. (371 dosimetry samples in the last year). Use the Using Ear-Fit system they tested a sample of 84 people initially: here are some of the points.

          1. - 55% got a good fit,
          2. - 24% needed training to get a good fit (+20 dBA,
          3. - 19% needed Training and a switch of plug and
          4. - 2% couldn’t be fit with any plug (Used custom of muffs)
          5. - Using Ear-Fit they were able to get people who had worn plugs for years. They got an Aha’ moment when they finally got a good fit and found out what that felt like, and sounded like.
          6. - Stock combat arms in their factory store for hunters.

 

The 2012 recipient for Innovation in Hearing Loss Prevention in the Construction Sector is:

>>>Bechtel National Inc., BSII, Waste Treatment & Immobilization Plant Project (Richland, WA).

The Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) is the world’s largest radioactive waste treatment plant: here are some of the points.

                        1. - BN11 Waste Treatment & Immobilization Plant (WTP)
                        2. - World’s largest radioactive waste treatment plant.
                        3. - 1,100 employees in the hearing conservation program (out of 3,200).
                        4. - Jacob Bailey, Jacob Lukins, Scott Nickerson lead the HCP
                        5. - Much of the program adopted by WTP has been adopted by other Bechtel locations.
                        6. - Program is considered by Bechtel to be low cost.
                        7. - Benefits extend beyond the hearing conservation program and Bechtel considers this cheaper than the fines they might get from DOE.
                        8. - Future projections:
                          1.    - Tool noise levels will be part of their purchase decisions in future.
                          2.    - Review cost benefit for fit testing and hearing protection devices.

 

Way to go all this year’s winners of The Safe-in-Sound Excellence and Innovation in Hearing Loss Prevention Awards™ .  CLICK HERE TO READ PRESS RELEASE. 

 

 

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NIOSH and NHCA highlight hearing loss prevention

February 24, 2012

For a second year, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in cooperation with the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA), is excited to announce a dedicated supplemental issue of the International Journal of Audiology. The issue highlights research presented at NHCA’s 36th Annual Conference in February 2011.

The studies highlighted include:

- Lessons learned from the use of new methodologies in studying hearing sensitivity after exposure to drug therapies that may cause hearing damage

- Potential barriers to implementing engineering noise controls in manufacturingNHCA NIOSH-supported research on major sources of noise in daily working life

-  NIOSH-supported research on how different hearing protection devices perform across a wide range of impulse sounds

- The effectiveness of hearing protection-enhancement devices for gunshots

- The history and impact of the NIOSH and NHCA Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award™

NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard noted that noise-induced hearing loss is a critical issue for all workers, stating, “The ability to hear can greatly impact a workers ability to do their job as well as their quality of life. Understanding the causes and how to effectively prevent noise-induced hearing loss is an important priority for NIOSH as we continue to look at total worker health.”

Additional support from this endeavor was provided by a grant by the Oticon Foundation, and financially underwriting by ASI Health Services; the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC), Etymotic Research Inc., HCI Hearing Conservation, Inc., HTI Inc. Mobile Audiometric Services, MED Compass, Mimosa Acoustics, and MobileEar Inc. Visit informahealthcare.com/toc/ija/51/S1  to view the special supplemental issue.

NIOSH The 2012 Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Awards™ will be presented at the 37th NHCA Annual Conference in New Orleans on Friday, February 24th, 2012. For information on the conference please go to www.hearingconservation.org . Nominations for the next round of awards will be accepted until September 1st, 2012. For further information please visit www.safeinsound.us.

Read full article. 

 

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See the dB Blocker “All Sport” at the Motorcycle show.

January 13, 2012

Check out the All Sport™All Sport

All Sport™ Fidelity stereo sound from your digital music player or bike sound system. All Sport™ lets you hear the full range of your recording even at highway speeds. For the rider who wants to listen to their digital music player or radio, All Sport™ is the ideal way to take your tunes on the road. All Sport™ is a headset that connects to your digital music player and is specially designed to work in the harsh environment bikers endure. Wind noise, bike rumble, and traffic sounds compound to make listening to radio or music a challenge while riding. Custom Protect Ear has found a solution.All Sport™ uses dB Blocker® ear pieces giving you extremely comfortable isolation from wind noise, bike growl and the quality music sounds of specially tuned dual stereo transducers. The sound reaches the protector through sound tubes that pass over the ear. This over-the-ear design allows for use with either full face or 1/2 shell helmets. It also allows for your All Sport™ to be easily repaired if you damage them.

RECOMMENDED USES OF THE ALL SPORTAll sport

• Motorcycle
• Snowmobiles
• Gym
• Industrial Workers
• Air Travel

ALL SPORTS FEATURES:

• dB Blocker® custom fitted ear pieces allows listeners to wear All Sport™ in complete comfort.
• The ear pieces are made from soft, flexible, medical grade, SkinSoft™ hypoallergenic silicone.
• All Sport™ can be worn with full face as well as ½ shell helmets.
• The dB Blocker ear pieces create isolation from wind, traffic and bike noise.
• All Sport™ has high quality stereo music transducers.

DOWNLOAD THE PDF: dB Blocker All Sport

Edmonton motorcycle show

 

Plus come see out Booth at the Edmonton Motorcycle Show Jan 13th – 15th, 2012. Come see us at the Edmonton Expo Centre – Booth #818.

 

vancouver motorcycle

 

Check out the Custom Protect Ear booth at this year’s Vancouver Motorcycle show. 
Booth #417.

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Effective Hearing Protection Webinar: Dont Miss!

January 4, 2012

hearingconservation

Hearing Loss Prevention: The Basics”Webinar Registration

Join the Webinar put on by the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) onThursday, January 12, 2012 
8:00 a.m. PST / 9:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. EST


The Presenter is: Theresa Schulz, PhD., CCC-A — Honeywell Safety Products (Read Bio)

These Series of Webinars are sponsored by Custom Protect Ear.

Effective Hearing Protection
As hearing conservationists we can measure, assess, document, and counsel, but when it comes to effective intervention, an important tool, sometimes our only tool, is a hearing protector. Therefore it behooves us to become knowledgeable about the specification of hearing protection devices and their use in hearing conservation programs. This presentation will focus on hearing protector function, how they are tested and rated (with particular reference to the NRR), the performance gains available from the use of dual hearing protection and hearing protection as a problem solver.

1 unit of ASHA Continuing Education Units is available. Contact hours have been applied for from the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses.

Register online today! (scroll all the way down on page)

Or Visit website to Download PDF

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Inspiring Letter to Santa

December 20, 2011

I was recently browsing the web for Christmas gifts & promotions and came across a letter to Santa: “What I Would Like to Hear This Christmas”. The letter captured my attention, because so many of us fail to ask for health and happiness because we are consumed with the next shiny IPad or a COACH handbag, yes I am guilty of this too :)

Here’s a glimpse of the letter:

“Dear Santa,

How are you? I’m sure you’re busy and this is a long letter, so I’ll get to the point.
I have hearing loss, which causes a few issues at this time of year, as you can imagine. Well, maybe you can’t imagine, because you don’t have hearing loss. So, let me tell you about my challenges and why I’m asking for your help again. cpe santa
Santa, at this time of year, it’s hard to hear. The holidays are noisy with all the festivity, parties, concerts, music and crowds of people. People get excited, making them louder and harder to understand. I have to work harder to hear and understand., This really stresses me out in a season that’s already emotional.

I want more from the holidays than just great turkey and looking my best sparkly-glam self. I want to ‘hear’ more; I want to get rid of those  barriers that can leave people like me –– out in the cold.”
Read entire Letter

It’s stories like these that put things into perspective regarding the value of our health. We once used to chant, “ All I want for Christmas in my two front teeth”, but now we ask for much more than that. Many people with hearing loss face stress, anxiety, isolation, and most likely live in denial. This is why it is important that people educate themselves about hearing loss prevention. It has to start somewhere – the world is a noisy place.

So in a nutshell, this Holiday Season, be aware of noisy festivity, parties, concerts, music and crowds of people; be cognoscente and protect your hearing.

A message from Custom Protect Ear:

“Our wish for everyone is that 2012 is the first year that you will try to maintain ALL of your body parts in working order including your ears.  When you begin your January exercise routine, exercise restraint and take precautions with your hearing.

“Let’s make it the year of hearing famously”

Happy Holidays

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Connect PhoneBuddy™ to your dB Blockers.

November 18, 2011

Product Release

Surrey British Columbia, November 14th, 2011. Custom Protect Ear launches the The PhoneBuddy™, headphones that are compatible to dB Blockers and work with many Smartphones. The headphones, “The PhoneBuddy™” are available in two versions; the single and the dual.

PhoneBuddy™ I  is a single version headphone for Phone Buddy monaural use (phone calls and to just hear the phone ring in noise). The unit works with virtually any smart phone and has an inline microphone and flash button for answering the call and hanging up. 

“A BIG PLUS is you can connect your PhoneBuddy™ into your dB Blocker Convertible vented protector and hear the phone ring in noise. You still have to move to quieter places to have a conversation but you won’t miss the call, says Custom Protect Ear’s President, Jeffery Goldberg.

PhoneBuddy™ II

PhoneBuddy™ II is the stereo version. With PhoneBuddy™ II you can listen to music and answer your phone calls on most Smartphones. It also has an in-line microphone with a flash switch. When a call comes in, the phone will ring in the earpiece and the user simply switches to the phone by pressing the flash switch.  When the call concludes, the user presses the flash switch again and the music resumes playing.

What makes PhoneBuddy unique is the sound quality and the ability to use it with more than one Smartphone.  PhoneBuddy™ II also connects to dB Blocker Convertible vented protectors for use in a noisy work environment. PhoneBuddy™ I sells for $69.00 retail with discounts for commercial users. PhoneBuddy™ II sells for $125.00 retail also with discounts for commercial users.

Please contact us for more details.

Custom Protect Ear
681-7789 134th Street
Surrey, BC  V3W 9E9
Canada
Phone: 604-599-1311 x321
Toll-free: 1-800-520-0220 x321
Fax: 604-599-7377
Email: hear@protectear.com

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Listen Up! Hearing Loss

November 14, 2011

Listen up about hearing loss

At a very young age many of us are trained to take care of our health and hygiene. From washing our hands before we touch food to brushing our teeth at least a couple of times a day – it all revolves around prevention.

We are taught to understand that if you don’t take care of yourself, you might experience negative symptoms like a cavity in your teeth, a congested nose or blurriness in the eyes. Everyday we read an article or hear about a deadly virus in the news, but many people are not aware of things that affect our health in a negative way until it is too late.

Hearing LossHearing protection - listen up

Hearing loss is an example of a  negative symptom caused in many people today. Especially since we are impacted by the digital economy we live in; we are prone to noise from the time our alarm clocks go off. Hearing problems often start slowly over time. and rarely lead to total deafness.

There are many causes of hearing loss. Hearing loss can be divided into two main categories:


Conductive hearing loss (CHL) occurs because of a mechanical problem in the outer or middle ear. The three tiny bones of the ear (ossicles) may not conduct sound properly. Or, the eardrum may not vibrate in response to sound. Fluid in the middle ear can cause this type of hearing loss.

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL)is due to a problem with the inner ear. It most often occurs when the tiny hair cells (nerve endings) that move sound through the ear are injured, diseased, do not work correctly, or have died. Learn more about Hearing Protection.

It has also been determined that untreated, hearing loss can lead to depression, dissatisfaction with life, reduced functional and cognitive health, and withdrawal from social activities. What you need to know about hearing loss is that is irreversible.

Hearing Loss: Things to know

So how do you know if you have hearing loss? Quoted by the Canadian Foundation of Hearing.

Take the hearing loss quiz! Answer yes or no to the following:

> I often miss parts of conversations and continually ask people to repeat themselves.

> I find that the high and low tones of many sounds have disappeared. For example, I find it difficult to hear birds singing.

> My family or friends complain that I listen to the TV at too loud a volume.

> I have to turn up the volume on the telephone/cellphone to hear properly.

> I have difficulty distinguishing speech from background noises. For example, I often have difficulty following dinnertime conversation,  while others are talking and music is playing.

> I find myself straining to read lips and facial expressions just to understand what someone is saying to me.

If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, then you need to have your hearing checked by a qualified audiologist. For a list of audiologists in your area, refer to your phone book or contact the Canadian Academy of Audiology  or in the United States click here. In many cases, testing your hearing is a free service audiologists often offer.

Remember hearing loss prevention is one of the many things you can avoid if you know what to avoid and what to look for. So listen up and be aware of sounds and noises that can cause damage over time to your hearing.

LEARN MORE, read “How loud is noisy”

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When things collide sometimes you should pay attention.

October 4, 2011

How harmful are headphones?

2 separate thoughts occurred to me recently. I’d like to share them with you.

The first is that more and more I see people wearing headphones rather than earphones. While earphones imply “leave Wearing headphones, hear protection me alone I’m busy” headphones really convey the message that “I am otherwise engaged”. Really they look like ear muffs used as hearing protection. What could be more clear than someone wearing hearing protection that tells you they’d rather not talk to you.

The other information comes from a study done for the U.S. Military by Dr. John Casali at Virginia Tech and Etymotic Research. In that study, which looked a spatial acuity of people wearing hearing protection it was discovered that covering the pinnae of the ear greatly reduces the wearers ability to determine where sounds were coming from. In fact the front to rear determination was particularly poor. This study was done using ear muffs not headphones in that no sound was coming from inside the ear cups. Read Study.

Headphones by design

What has one to do with the other? Headphones, by design, cover the pinnae of the ear. Headphone wearers are therefore significantly impaired when it comes to determining where sounds outside their headphones are coming from. Walking down the street with you music playing inside your headphones you are unable to determine where a car horn or person warning you of danger is coming from.

How long will it be before someone is injured wearing their headphones?

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Should We Legislate Music Players?

August 25, 2011

Recently, Open Medicine, an online medical journal, ran an opinion piece by Dr. Kapil Khatter recommending the Canadian government regulate the volume digital music players could output to 85 dB.. While Dr. Khatter’s recognition of the problem is commendable, his suggested solutions are probably unworkable and don’t really address the problem.

Dr. Brian Fligor’s research into the effects of personal digital music players has shown that it is not just volume that causes the damage; it is also the exposure time. Dr. Khatter suggests limiting the exposure to 85 dB which physiologically still leaves 25% of the population open to hearing damage. To be 100% safe, 80 – 82 dB should be the target.

Dr. Khatter further makes the point that “ear bud headphones may produce sound that is up to 10 dB louder than standard headphones. Firstly, there is no acoustic principle at work that would allow ear buds to be louder than headphones. The loudness would be a function of the dynamic design of the listening instrument itself whether ear buds or headphones. I believe what Dr. Khatter is referring to might be the need of the ear bud user to drown out background noise that might be otherwise blocked by a headphone cup that covers the ear.

All of these issues aside, the idea that legislation can solve this problem is fatuous. If Canada legislates a sound level for digital music players, buyers would order them from the U.S. or buy them there. Currently, the IPod has a feature that limits the output to 85 dB, which users can turn on or off. No, Dr. Khatter, what is needed is research, education, and a culture modification.

On the research front, what we need to understand is why people turn their players up so loud. Dr. Barry Blesser has some great thoughts on why that happens which we will share in a future blog. Dr. Brain Fligor is also researching the subject. We need to understand why so we can figure out how to change this behavior.

Once we understand why people will knowingly damage their hearing (they don’t knowing damage their sight or sense of taste or smell) we can educate them as to options. Dr. John Franks, a member of the Custom Protect Ear Scientific Advisory team, is currently doing some research into how to create conditions that would allow listeners to turn down the volume. Through research and education, in concert with government, we can get the knowledge of hearing damage from music players into users hands.

With all of this, perhaps we can create a culture similar to that in Europe, where listening at a safe level is much better understood. A recent presentation to the annual National Hearing Conservation Association annual conference showed use of hearing protection by club and concert goers in Europe to be 4x that of North Americans. We need to understand why.

You may be wondering what I’m taking such a hard stance. Dr. Khatter’s article is obviously well intentioned and trying to achieve the same goals as we are at CPE  – the prevention of hearing loss. Our concern is that if we try to solve the problem with legislation and think our job is done we will not achieve the desired aim. In fact we might achieve exactly the opposite outcome. By making digital music players function in a manner that is incompatible with what the users in Canada think they want them to do, we merely reinforce how ill informed and ineffective government is without solving the problem. We need to get users to reduce their exposure (volume over time) willingly. That means understanding the motivations and educating to change outcomes.

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Safety Engineers driving towards a safer workplace

July 4, 2011

Recently we attended ASSE 2011 in Chicago (I love that town).  This is the annual conclave of the American Society of Safety Engineers. There is a conference with classes on various aspect of safety engineering as well as a trade show with vendors offering various safety products designed to make workplaces less threatening.  We were presenting our dB Blocker hearing protection solution (hearing protection that stays in your ears because you can hear through it)  and it was interesting to hear what was being said to us.

Let me start by confirming that the best way to protect someone’s hearing is to not expose them to noise.  Even persons with relatively quiet jobs can loose some hearing from medical or genetic causes but an absence of noise sure helps.  Once we recognize that not every workplace is quiet we have to figure out how to protect those exposed. It is a fallacy that exposure to only the level of noise exposure acceptable to regulators we keep you safe.  Based on physiology, exposure to noises over 80 decibels will cause hearing loss in some individuals. At 85 dB, the action level in most Canadian provinces, 25% of the people exposed could loose some hearing.  The US action level for hearing protection is 90 dB (at 85 dB companies are supposed to start a hearing conservation program monitoring their employees hearing).  Well Safety Engineers know all of this and still are searching for solutions to protect the hearing of their associates.

Here are what some of them re telling us.

“I’ve been given an open cheque to stop hearing loss but economically sound solutions are hard to come by”

“My boss wants us to maintain the safest workplace.  I have his support to do what I need to do to protect hearing”.

“We have an aging work force and need to find a way to change habits and protect them”

” Every time our president visits one of our sites, the first question he asks is what safety topic did you discuss today.  The second question is what did you discuss yesterday”

I’m writing about this because it is wonderful to hear the enthusiasm for ensuring associates are well protected at work,  It is an enlightened perspective one that shows how far companies have come. If that’s not the philosophy at your company, maybe it’s time you thought about changing jobs. Companies that operate safe workplaces will survive and thrive.  Others will be eclipsed and be taken over by those companies powered by associates who reciprocate the care the company offers them. Ensure your with a company that’s on the safety-wellness band wagon.

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