Ear Safety
Ear safety is something everyone should take seriously. There is no way to repair hearing loss. Once you ruin your ears the damage can never be undone. Many People don’t even realize they are damaging their ears until it is too late.
The Human is extremely sensitive to sound. Any noise over 85 decibels can cause irreversible hearing damage. This is why ear safety is so important. Just to give you a real life example a lawn mower is usually around 90 decibels when it is running. So even long exposure to one can cause damage.
Protective Ear Safety Equipment
There are several ways to protect your ears from harmful noises. If you are serious about ear safety you should also use some type of protection in loud areas. The first type of ear safety are basic disposable ear plugs. They are generally made of foam so they can easily form to your ear canal. You can often go to an ear and throat specialist and have ear plugs made of a soft plastic that are molded to fit your ear exactly.
Another form of ear protection are the ear muffs. This are not your basic cold weather ear muffs. They are ear safety muffs that are specifically designed to reduce noise exposure. These ear muffs look very much like a mp3 player headset. Some of them actually come with radio tuners installed. Just make sure to keep the music at a safe level. The band can be adjusted to fit any head. The ear muffs should fit snug against your head. If there is any room for noise to get in they are basically useless.
Ear safety is an important topic that should be discussed at all safety meeting. If you work in a loud work environment and are not given some form of ear safety protection you should bring it up to a boss. They may not realize how loud your job is and the damage that is occurring to your ears. Remember hearing damage is permanent there is no way to repair lost hearing.