U.S. Army is a hearing hero
A military initiative is this year’s honoree in the prestigious Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award™ which is presented annually by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in partnership with the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA).
The US Army’s Tactical Communications and Protective System (TCAPS) is being honored for being successful in obtaining authority to evaluate and procure commercial off the shelf Hearing Protection Devices (HPDs) to designated Dismounted Infantry Soldiers. The program developed new and innovative procedures to procure, test, deliver and train users on new active hearing protection devices which aim to maintain auditory situation awareness and provide protection from noise-induced hearing loss. Between January 2014 to June 2017, 15 Army Brigade Combat Teams benefited from TCAPS activities, and approximately 30,000 TCAPS Active Hearing Protection Devices have been assigned to designated Army Infantry Soldiers.
“The U.S. Army’s Tactical Communications and Protective System has demonstrated initiative and innovation in developing and maintaining state-of-the-art hearing protection devices for Infantry Soldiers and leads the way in preventing work-related hearing loss,” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D.
The agency said the TCAPS program represents a recognition by the Army of the importance of hearing protection and communication among the force.
The award will be presented at the Annual Hearing Conservation Conference on February 16th in Orlando, Florida.
Safe-in-Sound awards – which are in their tenth year - honor those that have contributed to the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus through effective practices or innovations directed to those who are exposed to noise at work.
NIOSH recommends removing hazardous noise from the workplace whenever possible and implementing an effective hearing loss prevention program in those situations where dangerous noise exposures have not yet been controlled or eliminated. For more information about noise and hearing loss prevention research at NIOSH please visit http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/
Know someone or some program you think is a “hearing hero”? Nominations for the next Safe-in-Sound awards will be accepted until July 15, 2018 at http://www.safeinsound.us/
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