Posted By Gavin Reeve I have heard of a recent paper by Robin Howie which states that PPE for hearing protection offers nothing like the protection advised by the manufacturers. Does anybody have a copy of this or know where I can get one? It will be interesting if this has an effect on the revised noise regs when they come in. Thanks.

Posted By Frank Hallett Hi Gavin Robins paper doesn't say that auditory PPE isn't any good; what he does address is the mismatch between the manufacturers claims which are normally accompanied by phrases like "can", "up to", "subject to suitable training" and the like and the realities afforded in actual use. He then discusses many of those issues. His underlying conclusions relate to the way in which wearers use the devices more than the devices themselves. This is no different to the use of any other PPE; a weatherproof jacket is only weatherproof if worn correctly; a respirator is only as good as the wearers fit to the mask and there may be nothing that the wearer can do to improve that fit because they are simply the wrong shape for that particular item. Frank Hallett