Are Earplugs Enough?

I agree with you,

There are already administrative and engineering controls in place. Employees are not exercising their duty of care by not wearing hearing protection provided by the employer and most supervisors are not consistantly enforcing OHS controls.

And how many of these workers left the plant and climbed into their SUV with several thousand watts of amplifiers to go home to ride their 4 wheelers? You know the vehicles I am talking about - the vehicles you can hear from 1/2 mile away over the sound of your riding lawn mower, which you are operating sans ear protection?

How does OSHA determine hearing damage from 8 hours of work versus 8 hours of "play" per day?

I am one who has some hearing loss that the powers that be are trying to attribute to my occasional journey to the manufacturing floor to wire controls to a process skid. What about the 10 years I spent racing an open header equipped car at a drag racing strip every Saturday and Sunday? Think that might have more to do with it than noise at work? Saw lots of nitro burners run in my time at the strip. Ever hear what a nitro engine sounds like when you are just 30 feet away? Actually you don't hear it - you feel it.

The earplugs are not the issue. The issue comes from the employee not using them properly and companies not enforcing their policies. I routinely walk my plant and find persons that wear the plugs in a way that look like the plugs are in their ears but actually are not inserted in the ear. Some even cut holes in them. My control measures are simple, they are trained, they are warned, then suspended, then fired.

I can't hear you!! Would you send me a text? My I-pod is rockin'

OSHA is considering making this official - see the December 2010 lead article and blog. If they do so, then in addition to PPE, employers will have to shell out for additional noise suppressing equipment around loud machinery and worker shifts will have to be adjusted to reduce exposure times. This will surely result in less new hires...and don't call me Shirley.

Ear plugs only lower noise about 25 decibels. Not enough if you are 30 from a nitro dragster for sure.

I worked high end residential construction for a couple decades in the 70's and 80's after college and I've lost the upper half of my hearing from being around nail guns, skill saws, heavy equipment and constant hammering.

It was too dangerous to wear hearing protection because you used your peripheral hearing to listen out for signs of danger and the proverbial 'heads up!' everyone yells.

And then there were all those rock concerts...

In a factory setting it with consistant noise, why not sound suppression electronics?