Porfessional musicians routinely wear hearing protection, why not music teachers?

I did some of this type of work when I was employed by a LA in Scotland, some very interesting results (especially the drumming and horn teachers given the wee rooms they used 6 hours per day). the BBC did a detailed study on noise exposure in symphony orchestras ( a bit different, but a usful reference point) google it. There are some good technical solutions out there ( but don't forget the simple ones like turning the levels down, using electronic drum pads, acoustic screens, etc.

Chas apologies if I am giving you information you have already have, but have you seen the following web site? http://www.soundadvice.info/ I have not looked at schools etc, so I don't really know what level of exposure you will be faced with, but I have worked with people in the entertainment industry. Its an uphill battle as most people like the noise they are creating/working with or they would not be doing it in the first place. Its only years later when they develop hearing loss and its two late that they regret the exposure. There have been some good news articles recently from musicians who are suffering. Try using an Internet search engine on Pete Townsend Hearing Loss (probably showing my age and musical taste or lack of musical taste there) and you may get some useful information to present to your audience. Good luck with your endeavours.

Chas, Am doing a project on this in Gloucestershire monitoring noise exposure of peripatetic music teachers. I've been using personal dose meter badges (our own) and monitoring weekly exposures as their daily routine/schools visited differs on daily basis (the new regs allow for weekly assessment). Early results show for brass and reed teachers weekly exposure levels are consistently above the first action level. There appears to be little we can do to control this as they cannot build in enough quiet periods during the day as they are paid by the lesson, most schools (unless new) have small and not sound attenuated rehearsal room, the use of mutes is variable and we cannot control their evening activities such as playing in other bands etc. The only viable option is to offer hearing protection (musician type) and advise they need to wear this for at least a couple of hours a day to drop below the 80dBA threshold. I believe the regs need amending to allow for the weeks of low exposures they are probably getting outside of term time to be factored in i.e. we need a yearly exposure assessment/calculation.