It can be easy to underestimate the importance of hearing protection when working with and around machinery and processes that can cause much more immediate injury. However, reducing noise levels in the workplace, especially in a manufacturing or industrial setting, is an important safety issue. Permanent hearing loss can result from exposure to noise levels in excess of 90 dB over the course of time.
These noise levels are unfortunately pretty common in facilities with assembly and machine tool operation; process equipment such as pumps, compressors and blowers; material handling equipment like conveyors and fork trucks; and the regular use of power hand tools like saws, grinders and drills. OSHA estimates more than 30 million workers in industrial settings are exposed to hazardous levels of noise each year in the U.S.