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Effect of Industrial Work-Related Variables on Achieved Hearing Protector Attenuation.

PB92124445

Publication Date	1990
Personal Author	Casali, J. G.; Park, M. Y.
Page Count	84
Abstract	Studies were conducted to determine spectral noise attenuation and perceived comfort in controlled laboratory and industrial field settings. The laboratory simulations were developed to investigate the effects of several field factors of hearing protective device (HPD) wearing time, activity movement, and HPD fitting conditions on spectral attenuation and comfort afforded by foam and triple flanged earplugs, a foam cushion earmuff, and an earmuff over foam earplug combination. The findings indicated that achieved attenuation and user comfort significantly decreased over the two hour HPD wearing period and that training for better fitting markedly improved the noise protection. In the field study, the actual noise attenuation and comfort were determined over two consecutive 3 week periods of HPD use in five industrial workplaces. The overall field attenuation results indicated that, in general, the laboratory protocols cannot be relied upon to yield valid predictions of true workplace protection levels afforded by hearing protectors. The exception was the earmuff for which laboratory test results were not significantly different from those of the field at any frequency when like fitting protocols were compared.
Keywords	Occupational exposure Ear protectors Noise-induced hearing loss Field tests Frequencies Graphs(Charts) Statistical analysis Field fit
Source Agency	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NTIS Subject Category	57U - Public Health & Industrial Medicine 57S - Physiology 44G - Environmental & Occupational Factors 95D - Human Factors Engineering
Corporate Authors	Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg. Auditory Systems Lab.; National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH.
Supplemental Notes	See also PB82-219189. Sponsored by National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	199206

Effect of Industrial Work-Related Variables on Achieved Hearing Protector Attenuation.

Effect of Industrial Work-Related Variables on Achieved Hearing Protector Attenuation.
PB92124445

Publication Date	1990
Personal Author	Casali, J. G.; Park, M. Y.
Page Count	84
Abstract	Studies were conducted to determine spectral noise attenuation and perceived comfort in controlled laboratory and industrial field settings. The laboratory simulations were developed to investigate the effects of several field factors of hearing protective device (HPD) wearing time, activity movement, and HPD fitting conditions on spectral attenuation and comfort afforded by foam and triple flanged earplugs, a foam cushion earmuff, and an earmuff over foam earplug combination. The findings indicated that achieved attenuation and user comfort significantly decreased over the two hour HPD wearing period and that training for better fitting markedly improved the noise protection. In the field study, the actual noise attenuation and comfort were determined over two consecutive 3 week periods of HPD use in five industrial workplaces. The overall field attenuation results indicated that, in general, the laboratory protocols cannot be relied upon to yield valid predictions of true workplace protection levels afforded by hearing protectors. The exception was the earmuff for which laboratory test results were not significantly different from those of the field at any frequency when like fitting protocols were compared.
Keywords	Occupational exposure Ear protectors Noise-induced hearing loss Field tests Frequencies Graphs(Charts) Statistical analysis Field fit
Source Agency	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NTIS Subject Category	57U - Public Health & Industrial Medicine 57S - Physiology 44G - Environmental & Occupational Factors 95D - Human Factors Engineering
Corporate Authors	Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg. Auditory Systems Lab.; National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH.
Supplemental Notes	See also PB82-219189. Sponsored by National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	199206