ProtectEar USA Hearing Protection Information
We have provided our viewers with a section filled with links to resources from various parties relating to Hearing Protection. If you have questions or feedback please feel free to email us at: hearus@protectear.com
Hearing Protection Online Resources
Occupational Safety & Health Administration OSHA
National Hearing Conservation Association(NHCA)
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
National Safety Council
- Continue on a Journey to Safety Excellence
Join the National Safety Council on a “Journey to Safety Excellence,” and help reduce the number of workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities. By partnering with the Council, you can improve safety at your company, engage workers across the organization, and add to the bottom line.
Hearing Protection Act of 2015
- This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) eliminate the $200 transfer tax on firearm silencers, and (2) treat any person who acquires or possesses a firearm silencer as meeting any registration or licensing requirements of the National Firearms Act with respect to such silencer. Any person who pays a tax on a silencer after October 22, 2015 may receive a refund of such tax. The bill amends the federal criminal code to preempt state or local laws that tax or regulate firearm silencers.
Hearing Protection Whitepapers
- Field Attenuation Estimation Systems
- Why Choose Custom over Disposable Earplugs
- Why Must-Hearing Protective Devices HPDs Be Tested
Hearing Protection Articles
- Alternative Field Methods for Measuring Hearing Protector Performance (115K pdf)
In comparison with the mandatory noise reduction rating (NRR) testing of every hearing protector sold in the United States, real-world tests of hearing protector attenuation are scarce. - Development of a New Standard Laboratory Protocol (772K pdf)
Development of a new standard laboratory protocol for estimation of the field attenuation of hearing protection devices: Sample size necessary to provide acceptable reproducibility. - Earlog 20 – The Naked Truth About NRRs (55K pdf)
Since hearing protection devices (HPDs) are worn primarily for the purpose of noise reduction it is not surprising that hearing conservationists place great significance upon the sound attenuation that such devices can provide. - The Ardent Hearing Conservationist (66K pdf)
It all seems pretty straightforward. Noise damages hearing. Hearing protectors block sound. Select devices with high, or at least adequate Noise Reduction Ratings (NRRs). Hand them out. Tell people they need to wear them. Require they be worn. Job done. Well, not exactly … - Measurement of Insert-type Hearing Protector Attenuation on the End-user: A Practical Alternative to Relying on the NRR.
Hearing protectors are labeled with a Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) that is derived from laboratory measurements of the attenuation provided to trained and motivated human subjects in a ‘sterile’ environment. As intended, these measurements represent a best-fit condition. The literature indicates that the average attenuation provided to end-users of hearing protectors is often only a fraction of the labeled values. Because of this, various derating schemes are employed, including the 50% derating suggested in the OSHA inspector’s Technical Manual and the variable derating according to protector-type suggested in the 1998 NIOSH criteria document on occupational noise exposure.
