Posted By Pete Longworth The noise limit of 87dB(A) is at the ear after noise attenuation measures have been taken eg after wearing hearing pprotection. So the noise level would have to be extremely high for it to be 87 dB(A) at the ear while wearing hearing protection. I certainly reckon most hearing protection available would be able to cope with the noise generated by traffic for instance.

Posted By Pete Longworth Sorry didn't read the question properly. Obviously there will be some situations like outside workers working in areas of heavy traffic such as motorways etc where the noise levels will be very high. As I said in my last post the limit of 87 dB(A) is for noise at the ear after attenuation measures have been taken. In the case of fixed installations such as factories or airports etc where there are noise levels above 85 dB(A) time weighted average (measured as a daily or weekly dose. You should first of all consider measures to tackle the noise at source, in the meantime or if tackling the noise at source is not possible, you should declare the areas affected to be hearing protection zones and provide suitable hearing protection. In the case of outside workers previously described who are subject to noise levels above 85dB(A) you similarly should provide suitable hearing protection. As the situation is dynamic ie one job will be different to another I reckon you should provide the hearing protection as a minimum requirement.