Industrial Noise & Vibration Centre

+44 1753 698 800

Noise competency update + risk management Master Class

hearing protection PPE works poorly

Posted on: March 29, 2017

The current noise risk management process has failed. This is how we fix it to reduce risk by c 90%…

Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) claims currently running at about £400,000,000 per annum is unsustainable and demonstrates that current risk management processes have been ineffective and must be changed. Thousands of people are suffering hearing damage needlessly due to a lack of knowledge. Did you know that:-

  • PPE – muffs: lose 70% of their performance after 1 month; 90% due to glasses etc; 40% of PPE users get zero protection
  • PPE – plugs: most not fitted correctly; as low as 3dB attenuation; women get up to 9dB less attenuation than men
  • Audiometry: the damage criteria used include frequencies that do not reflect hearing loss; no threshold shift is necessarily detected despite substantial damage and reported symptoms

Noise Master Class – one day workshop

Book your place to find out how to implement a risk management revolution that can reduce hearing damage risk by c 90% and that can dramatically reduce costs

This one day noise master class workshop provides details of the key innovative changes in best practice that should be introduced to reduce the risks of future hearing damage by around 90% at a fraction of the cost of the current conventional (top-down) risk assessment processes. The day is suitable for anyone with responsibilities for risk management who needs to keep up to date with the latest developments and expectations or for people who have previously attended accredited noise competency training. It includes:-

  • New HSE guidance: puts the emphasis on action, not placebo documentation and processes
  • New approach to risk management: brings together all the simple, effective “low hanging fruit” risk reduction elements, making them easily available to non-specialists. This replaces the current typical “top-down” process, giving anyone the means and responsibility to reduce risk – at negligible cost. The process is initially available by email, covering: PPE tool: hearing protection database and real-world performance algorithm. Noise control database providing instant access to low-cost engineering solutions to common problems
oae testing

  • New OAE hearing screening test: audiometry does not detect the early stages of hearing damage. Otoacoustic Emission (OAE) does. It can assess and track the actual performance of risk reduction programmes, detecting shortcomings before significant damage is done. OAE will soon be available as a fast, objective, low-cost test by a technician in a quiet office that assesses noise-induced damage to the inner ear structures at an early stage (in the form of % damage), removing the guesswork as to your risk reduction programme noise measurement app performance.
smartphone data for remote noise control

  • Digital Noise Assessment (DNA) App beta: currently under development, this will make the new best practice available to anyone, anywhere on smartphone or tablet with automated action reporting and noise measurement

More information on the Noise Master Class or request a workshop