What is an SNR level?

A Single Number Rating (SNR) is a specification used to determine protection levels given by all hearing protection and provides an easy reference to compare the different types of hearing protection. The higher the SNR level the more protection the product gives in a noisy environment. It is commonly thought that 29 SNR would protect by 29dB, but this isn’t accurate. Protection levels can be found out by comparing the Octave Band Analysis (noise testing) of your environment, against the octave band table provided by all hearing protection. The SNR protection is dependent on the level of frequency.

All companies must provide hearing protection as an option when the noise level is on average 80dB, with a noise level of 85dB being the action level where hearing protection is made mandatory.  Companies must also ensure they are not over-protecting employees; protectors should not attenuate to a level below 70dB. This is to guarantee employees can still communicate and hear warning signals.

We offer 4 filters for our ProtectHear® product being 14, 23, 29 and 31 SNR. This is to give customers more options when your environment is either just above the action level or at the top level.  For example the 14 SNR would be for noise levels at the action level therefore not over-protecting. Whereas the 31 SNR would be used at around 95dB level, again being dependant on your noise survey with both examples. Our ProtectHear® attenuates noises to a safe level, meaning our ear plugs can be worn all day without having to take out for conversations.

Follow the text for more information on noise at work.

Earplugs in the Food Industry

Earplugs are used in a range of different sectors from food and drink to engineering, noise is always an issue in production, the two options to prevent this are provision of hearing protection or reducing the noise at source.

We supply over 1000 companies with our custom moulded earplugs and have been operating since 2000. This year we were pleased to welcome many new food customers to the ever growing list, with our ProtectHear® being approved by all Food Safety committees. In the food sector hearing protection is particularly important as the machinery makes constant noise, exceeding the 85 dB level where hearing protection is mandatory.

Another consideration with food is hygiene, the ear plugs must meet a certain standard being metal detectable and non-harmful if dropped into any of the production lines.   Our ProtectHear® can be worn with all forms of PPE and offer supreme comfort to those working in noisy areas all through the day. We can also offer communication accessories to fit any radio.

Silicone ear plugs feature on the BBC

Did you catch any of series two of ‘Inside the Factory’ that has been featuring on BBC 2 recently? You can see the largest factories in Britain, what process our foods are subject to in these mass production plants and really see the sheer scale of production. Episode one of the series explored inside ‘Walkers’, the worlds largest potato crisp site, where an impressive 5 million packets of crisps are made every day. The second episode featured Heinz, the largest baked bean factory – can you believe they are making over 3 million cans of beans a day?

On a hearing level, we wondered how they are protecting their employees?… 🙂

….check out the silicone ear plugs being used by workers at Heinz… The ear plugs are great for working in such a noisy environment as they protect hearing at a safe level whilst still allowing speech. Episode three featured Kelloggs, the largest cereal production site in Europe that manufactures over a million boxes a day and you can see our earplugs in use again.

Our silicone ear plugs are made for perfect use within the food manufacturing industry as they are metal detectable. They can be worn with all other forms of PPE and offer maximum comfort for ease of wear. They are also easy to maintain and clean.

To watch the series so far visit BBC iPlayer.

And if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team.