Ear defenders

Wearers of ear defenders who fail to incorporate the notion of time weighted average exposure in their concept of what constitutes dangerous noise. Hence they fail to realise that just taking the ear-muffs off for a few moments to let the ears breathe in high noise areas can negate much of their protective effect. 

Noise exposure above 90dBA is considered excessive and requires ear protection. However, it is especially dangerous should the unprotected ear be exposed to a noise level above 135 dBA or with ear defenders to impulse noise above 150 dBA, no matter how brief the exposure time . 

Attitudes Consider a person s decision whether or not to wear a particular piece of PPE, let us say ear defenders. According to Fishbein and Ajzen, their attitude towards wearing ear defenders will involve ... 

These twoelements are multiplied together. Thiscalculation is repeated for all their relevant beliefs and evaluations about ear defender usage. All these are then balanced against each other to produce the final attitude. 

Subjective norms The subjective norms are also created by a process of multiplication and summing, but the elements are different. The first element also involves beliefs, but in this case the beliefe concern the reactions of important people to the behaviour. For example, how would my workmates react if 1 were to wear ear defenders The second element concerns my motivation to comply with the wishes of these other people. For example, do I really care what my workmates think of my wearing ear defenders Once again, these two are multiplied together and balanced against other, similar, calculations. Other important people might include, for example, partners, close friends, or the safety officer. Their reactions are also assessed and multiplied by the motivation to comply. 

These two factors of attitude and subjective norm then influence the intention to behave. This intention is itself a result of a balance between the respective strengths of these two factors. I may, for example, have a positive attitude to wearing ear defenders, yet my intention may be not to wear them because of my perception that my workmates, whose respect I value, would ridicule me if I did so. 

There are two conditions that have to be satisfied if punishment is to be effective - the behaviour is punished immediately after it occurs, and the behaviour is punished every time it occurs. In other words, if you want to use punishment as a way of influencing behaviour, you have to be in a position to catch every infringement and punish it immediately. If you wanted to use punishment, by itself, to get people to wear ear defenders, for example, you would have to have a manager watching every worker all the time they were at work and be ready to issue some form of punishment, even just a rebuke, every time they failed to put on their ear defenders in a noisy environment. Contrast this with the much easier requirement for keeping the behaviour (even undesirable behaviour) going, for example, variable ratio reinforcement ... 

Noisy machinery should be fitted with silencers. When machinery is used in a workshop (such as woodworking machines), a noise survey should be undertaken and, if the noise levels exceed the second action level, the use of ear defenders becomes mandatory. If it is necessary to shout when talking to a nearby colleague, then the noise level is excessive and ear defenders should be worn. 

The source of noise and vibration on demolition sites will normally be caused by the use of plant and equipment, falling debris and/or explosives. Compressors, pneumatic hand-held tools, front end loaders, excavators and other equipment can create noise levels of more than the lower exposure action level of 80dB(A) and may at times create peak noise levels of more than 137 dB(C) the lower peak sound pressure action value. A noise assessment will be required and workers given ear defenders. 

There are two main types of ear protection - earpiugs and ear defenders (earmuffs). 

The noise when a power station safety valve opens is thunderous, even when wearing ear-defenders. 

However, the two other risk components may not be as obvious. Because the pedestrian worker may well be wearing ear defenders and may work in areas of high ambient noise, a risk component determines whether the pedestrian is facing the approaching vehicle. Similarly, the areas that are visible to the shuttle car driver are also stored within the computer model. If the pedestrian is hidden from view by the load on the vehicle, or obscmed by struts or paneling, the associated risk is higher than if the driver has an unobstructed view of the pedestrian (Hollands et al. 1999). 

Eye and hearing protection are mandatory for those who use chainsaws. Other requirements include safety helmet, face visor, ear defenders, safety boots, gloves with padded backs, and tight-fitting loose-woven nylon leggings and jacket. The latter are usually made from ballistic nylon. 

There are several different types of head protection but the one most commonly used in construction is the safety helmet (or hard hat). This is used to protect the head from falling objects and knocks and has an adjustable strap to ensure a snug fit. Some safety helmets come with attachments for ear defenders or eye protection. 

Hearing protection is used to prevent damage to the ears caused by very loud noise. There are several types of hearing protection available but the two most common types are earplugs and ear defenders. 

Ear defenders - these are worn to cover the entire ear and are connected to a band that fits over the top of the head. They are used when there is excessive noise and must be cleaned regularly. 

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