HAWK21M From India, joined Jan 2001, 31201 posts, RR: 58 Posted (7 years 6 months 5 days 20 hours ago) and read 2508 times:
How Effective is the use of Ear Defenders or Ear Plugs on Line Mx.How many use them.Does i make a big difference when you dont one day.
Any experiences.
regds
MEL
MissedApproach From Canada, joined Oct 2004, 713 posts, RR: 2 Reply 3, posted (7 years 6 months 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 2464 times:
I sure do wear them! Long term exposure to sound pressure level above 90dB (& maybe less) causes permanent hearing damage, though it may not be noticeable at first.
Protection level depends on the make & model of ear defender. We were typically using Lightning brand stuff, probably about a 23dB cut. Most average ear defenders do not provide adequate protection from jet noise (or from the turbine power units). Even adding earplugs underneath does not meet safety requirements, but it's difficult to reduce noise levels far enough. We recently hooked up with David Clark, they have a model that provides much more protection since it includes active noise cancellation. Very expensive unfortunately, about $2000-$2500 CDN. We're supposed to be getting prototypes from them soon with the battery pack incorporated into the earpiece/headband & the deletion of the microphone, which will reduce the cost to something under $500.
Something else that will reduce the effectiveness your hearing protection is the age of the ear seals, they need to be replaced about once a year.
WrenchBender From Canada, joined Feb 2004, 1779 posts, RR: 9 Reply 4, posted (7 years 6 months 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 2454 times:
Missed, The LCMM who is driving that is a good friend of mine, I have tried the new defenders, even in cubicle hell in Ottawa they make a noticeable difference. On the flight line they should provide a drastic savings to long term hearing loss. Almost everyone I know who has worked the flight line is getting some form of medical pension for hearing loss once they retire. I will be seeing John this weekend and will ask him how soon the prototypes are going to be dist'd for trails. I know Trenton is on the list as is Cold Lake, one of the Tac Hel units and either Victoria or Shearwater for the Sea Pig guys.
The long term payoff of reducing hearing loss will probable make this program work, I have yet to see a bean counter say no to health issues unless it was 'Operational Necessity". David Clarke is providing all the equipment on the basis of if the CF buys them maybe other Air Forces will come on board.
SkySurfer From United Kingdom, joined Sep 2004, 1134 posts, RR: 14 Reply 5, posted (7 years 6 months 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 2437 times:
Ok, i don't do maintenance, but when i worked at Manchester Airport (MAN) as a passenger service agent (aiding disabled passengers) i was on the apron 6+ times per day. Ear defenders had to be carried and WORN when we were in the vicinity of any aircraft. I was sat on a guard rail at T1 one evening waiting for a BRAL (British Regional) DHC-8 that was taxiing in, and needless to say i forgot my ear defenders. 30ft away from a Dash 8 is absolutely deafening! I'm glad my fingers fit my ears......never made that mistake again.
Btw, i've stood under the approach to RAF Fairford in the UK as 6 B-52's arrived..........i thought i was deaf for 20 ins afterwards!
Cheers
In the dark you can't see ugly, but you can feel fat
Nonfirm From United States of America, joined Sep 2005, 434 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (7 years 6 months 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 2425 times:
I have wore the same type of ear plugs for the last 14 years and have no loss in hearing on the test by the company and my own doctor.I use the yellow barrel ear plugs for me they fit the best.
Venus6971 From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 1409 posts, RR: 1 Reply 7, posted (7 years 6 months 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 2417 times:
Working on J-57 equipped acft I have noticed that my hearing is not as good as it has been. I used to wear yellow plugs and my Dave Clarks which was pretty good protection. Now my new nemesis is the T-37, the most annoying sounding acft on Gods green earth, Dogs 2 miles away cry in pain.
Saintsman From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2002, 2065 posts, RR: 2 Reply 8, posted (7 years 6 months 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 2409 times:
I have used ear plugs and ear defenders together during engine runs.
It was always drummed into me during my training how important ear protection is. Why risk it? I can understand that some safety protection can make people look 'stupid' and therefore a reluctance to wear it, but that is certainly not the case with ear defenders and with ear plugs you can't even see them.
MEL, if you have to ask the question then maybe health and safety is not particularly pushed in India.
HAWK21M From India, joined Jan 2001, 31201 posts, RR: 58 Reply 9, posted (7 years 6 months 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 2398 times:
Quoting Saintsman (Reply 8): MEL, if you have to ask the question then maybe health and safety is not particularly pushed in India.
Quoting VC-10 (Reply 1): Hearing damage is cumulative, you might not notice any degredation to begin with, but 10 yrs down the line..........
Out here its not Mandatory,which I find very surprising.I may among the few that use Ear defenders on line.Although During Grd runs most do.
The reason for the topic being raised,was there is this collegue who never wears a Ear defender or Ear plugs for last 16 years & his Annual medicals go thru just fine.The question is if another Employee who is always wearing Ear protection,one day forgets to wear it.Is the damage more to that Employee or the guy who never wore protection for 16 years.
regds
MEL
JarheadK5 From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 216 posts, RR: 1 Reply 10, posted (7 years 6 months 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 2378 times:
When I was young and dumb, I was too "manly" to wear hearing protection around operating aircraft. Now I've got a "threshold shift" in my hearing, and my wife either tells me to talk lower or listen better...
Quoting Venus6971 (Reply 7): Now my new nemesis is the T-37, the most annoying sounding acft on Gods green earth, Dogs 2 miles away cry in pain.
Good Lord, that is an annoying airplane... that shriek reverberates forever.
Dougloid From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 12, posted (7 years 6 months 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 2361 times:
Quoting JarheadK5 (Reply 10): Quoting Venus6971 (Reply 7):
Now my new nemesis is the T-37, the most annoying sounding acft on Gods green earth, Dogs 2 miles away cry in pain.
Good Lord, that is an annoying airplane... that shriek reverberates forever.
Yes indeedy-the Tweetybird also known as the two ton dogwhistle.
I wore ear protectors religiously as a tech and inspector at Douglas, including extra foam stuffed inside and yellow roll up earplugs to boot and I still have a pronounced hearing loss in the conversational range. What it means is that nowadays when I'm in court I make sure and visit the judge beforehand and say "Yer honner, I'm going to sit as close to the bench as I can" and explain why.
You can also get this by spending some time in front of a Marshall stack turned up loud, but there the effect is likely to be tinnitus, which is probably worse than hearing loss. jeff Beck's one victim of his own success, I suppose.
MissedApproach From Canada, joined Oct 2004, 713 posts, RR: 2 Reply 13, posted (7 years 6 months 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 2339 times:
Quoting WrenchBender (Reply 4): LCMM who is driving that is a good friend of mine
It's a small world after all! A friend of mine here was trying to get us something better for quite some time, especially for the CSU & AC units. Since we're in a different workshop than the bosses, & therefore invisible, they didn't really give a rat's a$$. Anyway, he was talking to a rep at David Clark about their products when the guy asked him if he'd been talking to so & so in Ottawa. It makes such a huge difference when you find the right guy to talk to, all the doors just opened up.
They say a good rule of thumb test for your hearing is to set the volume of your car radio at a comfortable level on the way to work. If you get in the car after work & catch yourself turning the radio up, your hearing is at risk.
Electech6299 From United States of America, joined Aug 2005, 616 posts, RR: 3 Reply 15, posted (7 years 6 months 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 2307 times:
Quoting HAWK21M (Reply 9): The question is if another Employee who is always wearing Ear protection,one day forgets to wear it.Is the damage more to that Employee or the guy who never wore protection for 16 years.
Not really- there is no such thing as immunity. It's not like your ears will ever "toughen up"- getting used to it is really a sign of early hearing loss. But if you think about it another way, that the guy who hasn't worn protection for 16 years has lost most (but not all) of what he's going to lose, where as the ones who wear protection have more to lose.
(for the ones who haven't been wearing earplugs, while it is true that permanant hearing loss is irreversable, it is also cumulative- and it's never too late to stop the negative effects. Also, some of the effects may still be temporary, and you might just recover slightly if you start using protection now.)
Using hearing protection doesn't make you more susceptible, like wearing sunglasses can cause changes in eyesight. It can, however, cause a subjective increase in hearing performance- people learn to "listen harder", or more accurately, pay attention to finer sounds that were previosly ignored. It can also mean that you are the only one bothered by frequencies that others in the shop have long ago lost....
Quoting HAWK21M (Reply 14): Out here Annual Medicals for AMEs cover Hearing tests too.How is it out there.
Glad to hear it! I was worried for a bit there. It's covered in my annual occupational physical too, for incidental exposure, and mostly because of our company's due diligence. For flight line Mx, and other high-risk occupations, there are OSHA laws that require medical surveillance and hearing protection programs in place for any occupation with elevated noise exposure (For the last 25 years or so...) Not a specific area of expertise of mine, but I have lots of resources available, and others in my office are certified for occupational noise exposure evaluation, so if you want more specific detail just ask...
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