When Is Hearing Protection Mandatory? 80, 85 and 87 dB(A) Explained

As an employee, you are required to wear hearing protection as soon as your daily noise dose exceeds 85 dB(A). Your employer must already offer that protection from 80 dB(A). And with hearing protection in, no more than 87 dB(A) may ever reach your ear.

Those three numbers come from the EU Noise Directive. Below you will find them at a glance, followed by what they mean in practice: who measures, who pays, when you are entitled to a hearing test and which hearing protection meets the requirements.

The daily dose is the average over an 8-hour working day. The peak values in dB(C) are about short, loud bangs, such as a sledgehammer, a nail gun or a gunshot.

Where are the rules written down?

The rules on noise at work are set at EU level in Directive 2003/10/EC, the Noise Directive. These are the EU minimum rules. Every EU country has written them into its own law, and some countries are stricter, so check your national rules. In the Netherlands, for example, they are in the Working Conditions Decree (Arbobesluit), in Germany in the LärmVibrationsArbSchV, and in Belgium in the Code on Well-being at Work.

Alongside this, the employer has a general duty to map out all risks at work in a risk assessment (Article 4 of the directive). Noise is one of them. Supervision is done by the national labour inspectorate in each country.

What the directive asks of the employer, at a glance:

• From 80 dB(A): make hearing protection available and give employees information and training on the risks of noise and the correct use of the protection. At this level, employees are not yet required to wear it.
• From 85 dB(A): employees must wear hearing protection the whole time they work in the noise. The employer draws up a programme of technical and organisational measures and marks the noisy areas with signs, limiting access where that is technically possible.
• At 87 dB(A) in the ear: this is the exposure limit value, measured with the hearing protection in. If the noise goes above it, the employer must take action immediately, find the cause and adjust the measures.
• Hearing test: employees who work above 85 dB(A) are entitled to a hearing test (audiometric testing, Article 10). Above 80 dB(A), a preventive test must be available if the assessment shows a risk to hearing. That way you can see whether the measures are working.

How does the daily dose work?

It is not about the loudest moment of the day, but about the total noise dose. Noise level and time add up, and every 3 dB more means twice as much sound energy. As a result, every 3 dB more halves the safe exposure time.

A worked example: if you work for 4 hours at 83 dB(A) and the rest of the day is quiet, you get the same daily dose as from 8 hours at 80 dB(A). At 86 dB(A) you reach that level after 2 hours, at 89 dB(A) after 1 hour and at 95 dB(A) after just a quarter of an hour. These are worked examples, not separate legal limits. You will find more examples of everyday sounds in our article how many decibels is harmful.

How loud is 80 dB(A), really?

A normal conversation comes in at around 60 dB(A). If you have to raise your voice to be understood by someone a metre away, the noise is probably above 80 dB(A).

The tricky part is that 80 or 85 dB(A) rarely hurts. Many people don’t even find it unpleasant, so they don’t notice that their hearing is being damaged over time. That is why we recommend wearing hearing protection from 80 dB(A), even though it is not yet mandatory at that level.

Who measures the noise, and how?

The employer is responsible for mapping out the noise. If the noise may exceed 80 dB(A), the exposure must be assessed and measured where necessary.

That is done with a sound level meter that applies an A-weighting filter. This filter takes into account how sensitive the ear is to different pitches, which is why the level is expressed in dB(A). For short, loud peaks a C-weighting filter is used, hence dB(C).

Want to know where your company stands? We carry out a noise measurement on site with a class 1 sound level meter and advise which protection suits which workstation.

• Map out the noise in the risk assessment and have it measured wherever it may exceed 80 dB(A).
• Tackle the source first: quieter machines, shielding, sound-insulated cabins or fewer hours in the noise.
• Provide hearing protection free of charge and check that it attenuates enough.
• Give information and training, for example in a toolbox session, on the risks and the correct use.
• Offer a hearing test to everyone who works above the action values.

We can help with those last two points: we give a toolbox session on noise and hearing of about 20 minutes and carry out hearing tests on site.

Who pays for the hearing protection?

The employer. Under EU rules (Directive 89/656/EEC), personal protective equipment, and therefore hearing protection, must be provided free of charge. So if you are exposed to more than 80 dB(A) at work, you don’t have to buy earplugs yourself.

The employer decides which hearing protection it will be. The law does not prescribe a type, only that the protection attenuates enough. There is a practical reason why employers increasingly choose custom earplugs: what feels comfortable gets worn all day.

What requirements does hearing protection have to meet?

Hearing protection falls under the European PPE Regulation (EU) 2016/425, in category III. That is the strictest category, for equipment that protects against risks with serious or irreversible consequences. An independent notified body therefore has to test the product before it can carry a CE marking. For earplugs this is done according to the EN 352-2 standard, for earmuffs according to EN 352-1. You will find the certificates and declarations of conformity for our earplugs on the certifications page.

That test produces the attenuation value, usually given as an SNR in decibels. Keep in mind that this is a lab value: an earplug that doesn’t seal properly attenuates much less in practice. That is why we check custom earplugs with a leak test when they are first used, and recommend repeating that check every year. You can read how that works in inspection and leak test of hearing protection.

Where is the noise at work?

Hearing problems caused by noise at work are among the most commonly reported occupational diseases. Employees gradually hear less well and can develop ringing in the ears or tinnitus. The cause is usually years of exposure to noise.

The best-known examples are construction, metalworking and industry, where machines and tools make a lot of noise. But farmers, military personnel, police officers and lorry or forklift drivers are also affected. Our overview of jobs with a high risk of hearing damage lists the noise levels per workplace.

Hospitality and events

In hospitality, the music is almost always on, and in clubs and at concerts the level is often around 100 dB. There is no EU standard for sound levels for visitors: each country, and sometimes each region or city, sets its own rules, and many have none. For the people who work there, the noise at work rules simply apply. Bar staff, DJs and security staff spend a whole shift in that noise, and at 100 dB you go far beyond the daily dose. Hearing protection with a music filter lowers the volume while you can still understand guests and colleagues. Read more in hearing protection in nightlife.

Airports

The risk is also high at an airport. Anyone working on the apron stands close to running aircraft engines, auxiliary power units and ground equipment. Because you also need to keep communicating clearly there, hearing protection is often combined with a headset or two-way radio.

Education and childcare

It may not be the first thing you think of, but noise can also run high in sports halls, swimming pools, leisure centres and day nurseries. Read, for example, about hearing damage in teachers.

What can companies do about noise themselves?

Noise doesn’t only lead to poorer hearing. High noise levels can also cause concentration problems, stress, fatigue and higher blood pressure. Every organisation benefits from healthy staff who function well.

The rules therefore follow a fixed order (the hierarchy of controls): first tackle the noise at the source, for example with quieter production methods and machines. Then shield it, for instance with sound-insulated cabins. Next come organisational measures, such as fewer hours a day in the noise. Only when that is not enough does hearing protection come into the picture. In practice, it remains necessary in many workplaces.

Custom hearing protection for your team

Custom earplugs are made from an impression of the wearer’s ear. That is why they seal well and are still comfortable after a full working day. Our Custom Work attenuates with an SNR of 17 to 31 dB, depending on filter and material, and up to 34 dB with the Click filter. Because the filters are interchangeable, you choose the attenuation that suits the noise at each workstation.

We make hearing protection for, among others, industry (from metalworking and food to printing works), security, nightlife and construction. From 3 people we come to your company to take ear impressions; contact us for on-site fittings in your country. Otherwise you can visit one of our locations. You will find all the options for work on hearing protection for work.

For employersHearing protection for your whole teamFrom 3 people we take ear impressions on site. Request a no-obligation quote. Request a quote