Video Transcript

ANDREA HOWARD: Hello and welcome to Quick Tips from MSC Industrial Supply, a show where we invite the manufacturing community to share their expertise with us. Once you lose hearing, you can't get it back. So if you're working in a loud environment, it's important to protect your hearing with the right safety equipment. Bruno from Pro-Safe is here to tell us how to pick the right hearing protection and the proper way to use it. Let's check it out.

BRUNO CUNHA: Hearing protection under OSHA is required for any instances where decibel ratings are above 85. The way ANSI measures decibel ratings in an industrial environment is by something called TWA, a time weighted average. They will take the decibel ratings for an eight-hour period at a job function, and if that rating is above 85, you'll be required to have hearing protection.

Now even though the exposure may not be 85 at all eight-hour shifts, there may be instances where you may experience a really high decibel surge. That can be a drill press. That can be a machine press. It could be anything like that where those decibel ratings will spike. At that point, it is critical to have hearing protection.

If your company has determined that a hearing protection program is required, there are critical things to keep in mind. One, what is your decibel exposure and how do I mitigate that to get it under the 85dB. The two main components are earplugs and earmuffs, and they do serve vastly different purposes. Earmuffs are extremely easy to use. They essentially adjust at certain levels and go right over the ears themselves.

When you put them on, you'll notice there's a cupping effect to them, and that usually implies that there's a good seal. Some things to keep in mind. All hearing protection will have an NRR rating. That's essentially a decibel reduction rating. For more information on decibel reduction, reach out to your MSC associate or your industrial safety consultant if you have them.

ANDREA HOWARD: For more information on Pro-Safe hearing protection, visit www.mscdirect.com/products/prosafe. Thanks to Bruno and Pro-Safe for making it easy to choose the right equipment to protect hearing in the workplace. See you next time on Quick Tips.