How's your ear protection?

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 2:14 am

Prior to the late 1960s and OSHA almost all machines were unsafe, or so they say. One of the personal safety/health issues was hearing protection. About that time, I was issued ear plugs. The rubber type, with two circular, fin-type baffles. These were to be worn when operating all small engines, and were also worn in aircraft. They came in a small plastic box with a bead chain to tie onto a buttonhole. That way the plugs (bright orange box) became part of our daily dress.

After years of use, I still have and sometimes use those plugs. I'll put them in when routing sometimes, depending on the added noise of the bit against the wood. You know - it just seems too loud without them. It seems as if I should have worn them more often, at least my wife rightfully complains about my asking to repeat things. (She really hates to hear - "WHAT?") Yes, I've lost a lot of high frequency hearing, but at age 74 it (hearing) still works most of the time.

This brings me to a new concern. Where is is the threshold of too much noise suppression? The other day as I was ripping, I decided to try a pair of those foam ear plugs. I have a dozen or so pair in case grandkids or someone else wants to spend some shop time with me. Well I'm here to tell you those foam plugs are really effective. Too effective for me. With them, I lost all of the saw to wood noise that tells how the cut is proceeding. I could hear the machine running in a muffled way, but the valuable hearing sense of the saw to wood was missing. That, to me was scary! After shi- canning the foam plugs, I tried the old reliables. They were effective in noise reduction, but allowed me to sense the working blade.

My conclusion is, too much noise suppression is more dangerous than too little. Without a reasonable amount of hearing, woodworking tools can be very dangerous to life and limb. Too much noise will eventually be very harmful to one's hearing.

How do the various muffs work? They even have those that allow you to listen to music and wearers are cautioned against turning the volume up too loud.

Without investing in one of those decibel meters (which won't work inside of muffs or plugs) how does one tell when noise is too loud? I don't know if my system is approved by anyone else, but my answer is "when it seems too loud". I now know that too much noise suppression can be dangerous!

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:03 am

I now have a constant ringing in my left ear due to years of not taking care of my hearing. Loud concerts, multiple freezers and refrigerators running at work, lawn mowing, etc. sure took their toll on my hearing. I now where those foam plugs that you say are too effective. I probably don't get as much shop time as you since I'm not retired yet, but I use them in the shop and like them. Maybe you just need to hone some of your other senses to make up for the loss of aural feedback.

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:21 am

I like and use the "muff" style. When I am not alone, I also have a pair for my guest. And Chuck, they still allow me to hear what is going on, just muffled.

bigmoe · Post by **bigmoe** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:26 pm

After working around noisy equipment most of my life, I managed to save most of my hearing. I have always used the expanding foam earplugs, shooting as well as woodworking. Hearing protection is a must around any type of noise. Only problem I have is my dear wife don't like me wearing then when she is telling what to do.

Gampa · Post by **Gampa** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 1:47 pm

The latest issue of Wood has a good article on noise in the woodshop. The tablesaw was at the point that hearing lose would start occurring after 2 1/2 hours of operation while a circular saw would cause immediate damage. It is also noted that regular exposure at the table saw and below level can cause hearing lose. The article also give a breakdown of how effective the various types of hearing protective devices are and how to wear them for most effective usage. Foam ear plugs had the highest rating of 35-45 dB reduction, while passive muffs showed a 15-35 dB reduction. Considering the rotor was rated at 100 dB a passive muff doing a minimum reduction of 15 dB would reduce the noise level to 85 dB or into the safe zone.

Personally I think I will stick to the passive muff that I have. It muffles well enough and are easy to put on and remove.

osx-addict · Post by **osx-addict** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:13 pm

A long time ago (back in the 80's) I worked for a large aerospace company that has since split into multiple pieces and a co-worker spent countless hours working in a lab environment (along w/ me) working near an avionics computer that had a 400hz cooling fan that would scream when running. Anyway, after a few years of this, this co-worker went in for a hearing test and found that a spectrum of hearing was lost in the 400hz range due to the constant shrill fan noise. Anyway, that woke up the mgmt group and forced him to wear hearing protection and to provide it to others that also worked in that environment.. Luckily I didn't suffer any noticable damage from that, but I do once in a while say ... "What?"...
We've also got a neighbor that does lawn mowing 6 days a week (~30 yards/day) and he never uses hearing protection and has definately lost a large segment of hearing.. I'll be using protection when using my SS once it's ready for use!

john · Post by **john** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 5:11 pm

I always wear ear muffs when running the SS or other noisy tools, especially the shop vac. The only problem is that the effect is somewhat lessened if I when I wear my safety goggles that fit over my regular glasses. I think the Wood Magazine article coverd this point.

"What" is a common word with me as is the raised volume on the TV. Come to think of it "what" is more common when my dear wife is speaking (I wonder why that is?)

My hearing loss occurred over time many years ago but I can't relate it to anything in particular. Maybe just the aging process though I am still young compared to some fellas.

Have fun!

John

ryanbp01 · Post by **ryanbp01** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:54 pm

I highly recommend the AO Safety Worktunes hearing protectors. AM/FM radio built in, digital tuning, and you can connect an mp-3 player if you wish. Great for ear protection in the shop or mowing the yard. Plus they are comfortable!

BPR

Gampa · Post by **Gampa** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:14 pm

It's a known fact that hearing loss in the wife hz range instantly occurs as soon as the I Do is said.

guvnuh4 · Post by **guvnuh4** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:19 pm

ryanbp01 wrote:I highly recommend the AO Safety Worktunes hearing protectors. AM/FM radio built in, digital tuning, and you can connect an mp-3 player if you wish. Great for ear protection in the shop or mowing the yard. Plus they are comfortable!

BPR

when i was working at lowes, in the tools/hardware dept we actually couldn't keep those in stock. Once a shipment would come in, there would be a call list for people waiting to get a pair...