Are your staff wearing ear plugs correctly?
Hear 4 The Long Term’s Earplug Fit Test is an online test that will immediately inform you whether the earplugs fitted are providing a suitable level of protection for your staff.
No specialist equipment
No specialist equipment is required, just a pair of good quality wired, over-the-ear headphones where the cups enclose your ears, your internet connected tablet, laptop or computer and the earplugs you wish to test.
Any kind of ear plug
No bias towards a particular brand or type of ear plug. This works with any manufacturers earplug that is inserted into the ear.
Instant Results
Upon completing the test, the result is instantly displayed on the screen by showing a PAR ( Personal Attenuation Rating) for each ear. It also highlights whether both ears have ‘passed’ or not.
training and verification
If one or both ears fails, the system instructs the user to re-insert the ear plug(s) and re-take the test. This ensures optimum fit & provides an audit trail to demonstrate the plugs work to the required standard.
Staff Confidence
The test ensures that the ear plugs issued are providing a suitable level of hearing protection. Alternatively, it will let you know if a different type of ear protection is required.
Custom moulded ear plugs
In addition to being able to test any brand of disposable or reusable ear plug, this test also works well for any custom moulded ear plugs. This is often overlooked as the initial good fit can be compromised over several years due to degradation and changes to our ear shape.
Secure Data
All data is stored on a secure server and provides a comprehensive audit trail of hearing protection performance for each employee.
When hearing protection is the only solution
Ear Plugs are a popular choice due to their compatibility with other forms of Personal Protective Equipment but they must be fitted precisely. Whilst some manufacturers provide guidance on the correct way to insert them, different ear canal shapes and fitting methods result in different attenuation levels for people.
Issuing hearing protection alone does not guarantee protection from noise-induced hearing loss. One common misconception is that the higher the SNR (Single Number Rating) on the packaging, the more effective the earplugs are. However, ‘suitable hearing protection’ means ensuring that the individual attenuation level of the plugs is appropriate for the user’s noise exposure level.
