Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Oregon OSHA Online Course 203
This material is for training purposes only. Its purpose is to inform Oregon
employers of best practices in occupational safety and health and general Oregon
OSHA compliance requirements. This material is not a substitute for any provision
of the Oregon Safety Employment Act or any standards issued by Oregon OSHA.
For more information on this online course and other OR-OSHA online training,
visit the Online Course Catalog.
MODULE SEVEN: 1910.95 HEARING PROTECTION
"Yeah, that machine used to be noisy...but it's not so loud any more."
 |
Noise is something all of us have to deal with in the workplace. It is
any sound that is unwanted. Noise doesn't necessarily have to be loud to
distract us. And, as you know, many accidents occur when we become distracted
from our task. Continuous loud noise, however, is insidious. It may not
cause pain, and we may eventually learn to ignore it. But, that noise is
source of our long-term hearing loss. |
Think about it this way: You can walk across a grassy yard a couple of times every
day without causing any damage to the grass. However, if you continually walk
back and forth, you eventually beat down the grass, forming a path. The grass
loses its ability to spring back. It just lays down and eventually dies. In a
similar manner, continual loud noise beats down the hair cells in your the cochlea
of your inner ear. Eventually, they lose the ability to spring back. The big difference,
however, is that while grass can grow back, those hair cells in your ear won't.
When you consider that you've only got around 16,000 hair cells in each ear, and
they are thinning out from the day you're born, it's important to take good care
of them.
Over one hearing loss claim a week in Oregon!
Are Oregon workers suffering from noise? You bet! In 1996 there were 65 hearing
loss claims in Oregon. The average medical costs to close the claim was $2,226.
Average time loss costs were $712 and the average number of lost days for this
category of disease claim is 26 days. Lastly, the average partial permanent disability
costs were $7,583. So, the total average direct costs for hearing loss is $10,521.
I'm sure you will agree that you can purchase a lot of ear plugs for that! (By
the way, these statistics were obtained by the Department of Consumer and Business
Services Research and Analysis Section. Use these figures when you make recommendations
for improvement in your hearing conservation program.)
Consequently...
As a result of this real and present danger to Oregon employees, all employers
are held accountable to protect their employees against the effects of injurious
noise exposure at work. When employees are subjected to sound exceeding those
listed in the table below, feasible engineering or administrative controls must
be used to reduce exposure. If these control efforts fail to sufficiently reduce
sound levels personal protective equipment must be provided and used to reduce
sound levels within the levels of the table.
TABLE G-16 - PERMISSIBLE NOISE EXPOSURES (1)
______________________________________________________________
|
Duration per day, hours | Sound level dBA slow response
____________________________|_________________________________
|
8...........................| 90
6...........................| 92
4...........................| 95
3...........................| 97
2...........................| 100
1 1/2 ......................| 102
1...........................| 105
1/2 ........................| 110
1/4 or less................| 115
____________________________|________________________________
| Footnote(1) When the daily noise exposure is composed of two or more
periods of noise exposure of different levels, their combined effect should
be considered, rather than the individual effect of each. If the sum of
the following fractions: C(1)/T(1) + C(2)/T(2) C(n)/T(n) exceeds unity,
then, the mixed exposure should be considered to exceed the limit value.
Cn indicates the total time of exposure at a specified noise level, and
Tn indicates the total time of exposure permitted at that level. Exposure
to impulsive or impact noise should not exceed 140 dB peak sound pressure
level. |
Engineering controls are most effective. Basically, all we're talking about
is attempting to eliminate or reduce the noise level by redesigning, replacing
or enclosing noisy equipment.
Management (Work Practice/Administrative) Controls attempt to limit exposure
by reducing the duration of exposure to the noise.
Hearing conservation program
I'm not going to talk at length about the hearing conservation program because
we're trying to focus in on the actual hearing protection (PPE) itself in this
module. It is important to know, however, that the employer must administer a
continuing, effective hearing conservation program, as described in paragraphs
(c) through (o) of the standard, whenever employee noise exposures equal or exceed
an 8-hour time-weighted average sound level (TWA) of 85 decibels measured on the
A scale (slow response) or, equivalently, a dose of fifty percent.
If you have questions about administering the hearing conservation program itself,
you can attend our workshop on that subject, or call one of our health consultants
who can answer your specific questions. Now, let's get to the equipment!
Hearing protectors
As you're probably well aware, there are basically four types of hearing protectors.
- Molded earplugs
- Custom-molded earplugs
- Self-molded earplugs, and
- Ear muffs
Molded earplugs are usually made of plastic or silicone rubber. They are
available in a variety of shapes and sizes and are usually characterized by one
or more ribs or contours. They are considered multiple use; therefore, they must
be cleaned and properly stored after each use.
Custom molded plugs are generally made of plastic and are designed from
a molded wax insert of the wearer's ears. They are considered multiple use but
cannot be switched ear to ear.
Self-molded earplugs are generally made of mineral down or plastic foam
and are molded or formed by the wearer. Generally one size fits all and they may
be either single or multiple use.
Earmuffs are designed to be multiple use and may be designed to be worn
with the harness over or behind the head, or below the chin. They are generally
more comfortable, but usually provide less noise reduction, thus less protection,
than ear plugs.
More employer responsibilities
Employers must make sure that hearing protectors are worn:
- By all employees who are required by the PPE standard to wear personal protective
equipment; and
- By all employees who are exposed to an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85
decibels or greater, and who:
- Have not yet had a baseline audiogram established pursuant to paragraph
- Have experienced a standard threshold shift.
The intent of the law is that employers make hearing protectors available
to all employees that meet the criteria above at no cost to employees. Also,
hearing protectors must be replaced as necessary. And, employees must be given
the opportunity to select their hearing protectors from a variety of suitable
hearing protectors provided by the employer. The employer must also make sure
that hearing protectors fit properly at the initial fitting and then supervise
their correct use. One effective way to make sure employees are involved in
this process is to ask your PPE supplier account representative to display a
range of products to the employees.
Education and Training
The employer must provide training in the use and care of all hearing protectors
provided to employees who are exposed to noise at or above an 8-hour time-weighted
average of 85 decibels, and must make sure employees participate in the program.
Although the standard only requires "training," make sure your PPE training (or
any safety training for that matter) includes "educating" the employee as to the
importance of the correct use of their PPE. As we talked about in Module 3, education
tells employees the "why" which increases understanding. Understanding affects
attitude which, in turn, influences behavior. The goal is to get employees to
"want to" use their PPE correctly. The educational component of this training
includes information on:
- The effects of noise on hearing
- The purpose of hearing protectors
- The advantages, disadvantages
- Attenuation of various types
- The purpose of audiometric testing, and an explanation of the test procedures.
The employer must also make sure that each employee demonstrates the ability to
use and care for the PPE they are using.
Last words.
Well, it's time to take your final module quiz. It's been a long seven modules,
but you did it! Answer the questions on the following review quiz. Once you have
completed all of the assignments and quiz questions for seven modules, get back
online at the Course Outline page and click on the Final Assignment and Quiz
Submission Page web page.
MODULE Quiz
46. Engineering or administrative controls must be used to reduce an 8-hour
exposure to noise levels to ______ or less.
a. 85 dba
b. 90 dba
c. 95 dba
d. None of the above
47. Engineering controls to eliminate or reduce exposure noise include all
of the following except:
a. Enclose the source
b. Revise work procedures
c. Redesign the equipment
d. Replace equipment
48. In your opinion, why may it be difficult to administer an effective Hearing
Conservation program?
49. Generally, ear plugs have a higher noise reduction rate than ear muffs.
a. True
b. False
50. Why is it so important to include employees when selecting hearing protection
devices?
Hey, you did it! I hope the information within these seven modules
as been helpful to you and I hope to see you participate in another course soon.
When you're ready, go to the Course Assignments and Quiz web page to submit
your coursework, evaluation, and certificate information. I'll see you in a
workshop or another internet course! If you have any questions or comments,
just drop me an email.
|
Adobe
Reader is required to view PDF files. Click the "Get Adobe Reader" image to get a free download of the reader from Adobe. Available for Macintosh or Windows.