Brad Witt is the Director of Hearing Conservation for Honeywell Safety Products, the manufacturer of Howard Leight® hearing protection products. He holds a B.S. in Communication Disorders from Brigham Young University, and an M.A. in Audiology from Northwestern University. For 14 years, he managed a hearing conservation practice in California, providing OSHA-standard services at 175 locations. He has served as President of the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA). He has presented more than 250 hearing conservation seminars on behalf of Howard Leight over the past eight years in 18 countries. Contact Mr. Witt by e-mail at brad.witt@honeywell.com.
Many companies implement the required elements for an OSHA standard Hearing Conservation Program, believing they have stopped noise-induced hearing loss at their workplace.
In the defense against hazardous noise exposure, earmuffs have the advantage of including electronics. Electronic earmuffs not only provide significant reduction of hazardous noise, but also offer an impressive array of options for specialized applications.
So you think there’s nothing new to learn about using hearing protectors? After all, hazardous noise has been around for a long time; you’ve heard it all before, right? Well, let’s check your hearing conservation know-how with this quick “true/false†test of fact or fiction.
After 20 years of having hearing conservation standards in industry, noise-induced hearing loss continues to be one of the most common workplace injuries. Why does hearing loss still occur when an OSHA-standard program is in place?
3 keys to motivate workers to use hearing protection
The best way to protect your hearing from hazardous noise exposure is to consistently use hearing protectors around loud noise.†This may sound like a basic instruction to most people, but to an employee who has experienced hearing loss due to noise exposure, this same instruction, if given audibly, may sound like this: “Da be way oo roec your hearing rom haardu noi eboer i oo onidindly oo hearing roecer around loud noi.â€
