Hello,

We have some of our operatives who are wearing ear defenders with built in radios, they have supplied their own PPE which they say offer 31dB noise reduction. We could easily suggest that only company issued PPE can be worn for a quick win but we don't just want to win, we want to prevent use if it's the right thing to do. We can't find anything online that advises one way or another, in essence, we cannot determine if these are safe for long duration usage or not.

One part of me wants to say that they must be removing one noise and replacing it with another. Also, they might not be able to hear people attempting to communicate with them over the radio noise.

The other part of me thinks that if a large PPE manufactrurer such as 3M are producing the Peltor headsets that they say are suitable, they must surely be OK?

Does anyone have any better infomation / evidence that advises one way or another?

Thanks

John

Needs to be based upon your RA - yes the radio can provide a distraction especially where you have mobile plant / FLT's operating BUT where the operative is stuck in one location for a shift it is much better they have their own entertainment rather than a radio whose volume ends up ridiculously loud to overcome process noise.

If you ban them prepare to see earphone cables attached to devices (MP3, mobile phone etc.) dangling from the bottom of standard muffs. 

Similar arguments can be had regarding ear muffs that connect to walkie-talkie systems.

Make it company issue so you can control what is being bought (but make the employee responsible for replacement batteries).

From experience these type of units seem to get more care and attention by the wearer than a standard muff.

Thanks Roundtuit. The operatives in question are grounds maintenance teams using ride-on mowers / strimmers etc. I am worried that one person walking with these devices on could inadvertantly get close to someone / something and not hear calls to get their attention. They aren't stuck in one place and do move around a lot which is where my concern comes from, if they were line process operatives, this may not be such a quandary.

I agree that removing them from use could make some of them find other ways to do it which could have even less control.