What if INTEGRAfit tells me that the worker is over-protected?
Is over-protection a bad thing? It depends upon the degree of over-protection. NIOSH reports that 76% of all industrial workers need no more than a PAR of 10 decibels, and 90% need no more than a PAR of 15 decibels. However, a recent study conducted by a hearing protector manufacturer shows that about two-thirds of workers are achieving real-world attenuation in excess of 15 decibels, some as high as 40-to-50 decibels! Some amount of over-protection is likely with well-fitting standard hearing protectors and is an acceptable tradeoff – better to be over-protected than under-protected. However, excessive over-protection interferes with speech communication, the hearing of warning alarms, and general loss of auditory contact with one’s surroundings – especially for a person with significant hearing loss. These are issues that not only affect the health & safety of the worker, but can have ramifications for production as well. When excessive over-protection is measured, the worker should
