What are the common problems with hearing protectors?
Studies have shown that one-half of the workers wearing hearing protectors receive only one-half or less of the noise reduction potential of their protectors. This diminished protection occurs because these devices either are not worn continuously while exposed to noise or they do not fit properly. As previously mentioned, a hearing protector can give an average of 30 dB noise reduction if worn continuously during an 8-hour workday. If taken off for just one hour while exposed to noise, however, such a protector would provide only an average of 9 dB of protection during the 8 hours. This substantial reduction in protection occurs because with the logarithmic scale used to measure decibels, a 10-times increase in noise energy occurs for each 10 dB increase in sound. Thus, during the hour with unprotected ears, the worker is exposed to 1,000 times more sound energy than if earplugs or muffs had been worn. (For the 30 dB, 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000 times more noise.) In addition, noise exposure
