Hearing Protection at Work | When Is It Required?

Festival season is all well and good, but what about the days when you have to deal with noise at work too? For those situations, you can buy custom earplugs as well. In fact, in many cases you are even entitled to hearing protection at work. In this blog, we explain exactly how that works.

Most of us already know that things like fireworks and loud music are bad for our hearing. Yet there are plenty of other situations in which you can damage your hearing as well, such as in the workplace.

The best-known example of a profession that involves constant exposure to noise is construction. This is, of course, due to the many machines and tools that produce a great deal of sound. The same goes for the hospitality industry, where the noise is often even more pronounced because the music tends to be turned up almost all the time.

There are other professions with a high risk of hearing damage too. Consider people who work at the airport, for example. And did you know that primary school teachers also have to put up with a lot of noise?

Earplugs can help in these situations, especially the custom-made kind, because they are more comfortable to wear and offer better protection. They are also fitted with a special filter, so that essentially only the noise is filtered out while still allowing you to carry on a conversation.

The only drawback might be the price, but fortunately the cost of earplugs can be reimbursed too. If the average noise level at your workplace exceeds 80 dB, your employer is required to provide hearing protection. This is due to the Dutch Working Conditions Act (Arbowet).

So how do you find out what that average noise level is? We can determine this for you with a sound measurement. In many cases this is free of charge, and afterwards you can have earplugs custom-fitted right away if you wish. If you would like more information, feel free to get in touch. Or read more information about hearing protection at work here.