Everyday jobs can expose you to harmful noise levels, slowly deteriorating your hearing. To protect your hearing, it's important to understand the value of hearing protection devices, noise controls, hearing testing, training, and other preventive measures. For this article, we contacted hearing conservation experts to explain some of the key issues.
Type of noise: Noise Reduction Ratings (NRRs) of hearing protectors should be evaluated in terms of effectiveness against specific frequencies of noise, not just the total amplitude in decibels. You need to discern if the noise is continuous, intermittent, or impulse, and whether it is mostly high-frequency or low-frequency rumble.