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.