Posted By John Webster The Noise at Work Regs do not apply to the crew of an aircraft moving under its own power or to any other person on board who is at work in connection with its operation. The regulations do apply to passengers who are at work. Is a paramedic in a designated Air Ambulance at work in connection with its operation, and hence exempt, or just at work, so included? The paramedics in question are normal road ambulance crew who will go with a patient in the air ambulance if required. John

Posted By Laurie He is not concerned with the actual operation of the aircraft, only with its subsidiary operation as an ambulance, and should therefore wear some sort of hearing protection. As discussed in the previous response, a normal headset should provide good attenuation. As I indicated in a previous thread, noise levels in helicopter cabins can be unbelievably high - I have measured up to 140 dB. I suggest that anyone regularly travelling in a chopper should not only use state of the art hearing protection, but should also undergo regular hearing checkups. I speak as a haering conservation officer with 16% hearing loss, entirely from aircraft noise Laurie

Posted By lawrence baldwin John If the paramedic is part of the rescue crew employed by the air operator he/she would be part of the crew, if not then they are treated as a passenger from the air operators point of view and the paramedics' employer needs to do the assessment, but helicopters "should" (ours do) carry spare muffs or disposable aural plugs suitable for the level of noise and the duration of flight experienced for passengers; in the case of our SAR helicopters, spare headsets for paramedics and doctors. The patient although the responsibility of the captain while in the aircraft takes the guidance of the paramedic/doctor regarding any necessary controls needed to make the patient comfortable. I have worked most of my adult life with helicopters, military and civil including civil search and rescue and within an air transport operator. You may be aware, the exemption comes from the Air Navigation Order (Rules of the Sky) taking precedent over the NAW regs when they were first introduced, the requirement being 2 way communication for crew etc under the ANO. This exemption dissappears under the Physical Agents Directive and puts everyone in the same boat (so to speak) we've had great fun in designing a piece of kit that can accurately deliver a comparable noise dosimetry level at the ear that is comparable with what the pilot receives within the headset. There are many helicopter pilots and crew with induced hearing loss at certain frequencies due to the exposure of extremely loud radios and static "white" noise that they have had to continually endure throughout the flight over their many years of flying. Modern aviation headsets are very good at noise control with good radio communications and having carried out an in depth investigation within our organisation on noise reduction headsets versus normal aviation headsets, each came out level with pros and cons on both side, ultimately it was down to personal choice; and with the advent of the physical Agents directive, headsets for pilots and crew will become PPE. Sorry, gone on a bit, Hope this helps Lawrence