What is over protecting?

Protecting yourself from harmful sounds is very important, to avoid loss of hearing and deafness. But over protecting is something that needs to be considered in relation to noise levels within your working area. Over protecting can lead to isolation, difficulty in communicating and not being able to hear warnings and signals. This may lead to employees removing hearing protection to communicate and then not being protected.

The HSE advises that you should not reduce the level of noise with ear plugs to 70dB, as this is seen as over protecting. ProtectHear® offers you the appropriate protection levels, whilst being aware of your surroundings. This gives you the ability to keep your hearing protection fitted at all times.

We offer a range of SNR levels such as 14, 23, 29 and 31. For example, if you’re just above the action level at 85dB then the 14 SNR would be the best option, as the 23 would over protect. Our most popular option is the 29 SNR with customers such as Network Rail, British Steel and Phillips 66. The 31 SNR is a solid version that blocks out the noise. The level of protection can be dependent on whether it’s a low frequency working area, you should always refer on to your Octave band analysis noise survey.

The HSE has an article on overprotecting you can browse through.