Howard Leight, San Diego, introduces QuietDose, a personal dosimeter that measures and records a worker’s actual in-ear exposure to noise during an entire work shift.
“Existing noise-measurement devices only sample ambient sound. This shortcoming forces employers to estimate workplace noise levels and base hearing protection on potentially faulty conclusions, which can end up wasting money, risking regulatory violations, and endangering employee hearing" says Renee Bessette, COHC, marketing manager, Howard Leight/Sperian Hearing Protection LLC. "QuietDose provides safety managers with an unprecedented level of personalized data to create the most customized, and effective hearing conservation programs for each worker.”
Bessette says this may result in fewer documented cases of occupational hearing loss for employees, fewer claims, and lower compensation costs for employers. Supervisors can also use the personalized data to improve productivity by better managing worker deployment in areas of extreme noise, she says.
Workers can personally monitor and control their noise exposure in real time, and flashing alerts indicate when noise exposure reaches or exceeds prescribed limits.
The system consists of a small Exposure Smart Protector dosimeter that’s worn by employees in a shirt pocket or on the back of a hardhat; protective eartips or an earmuff with integrated microphones that record real time in-ear noise levels; and a connecting harness. An infrared reader enables safety managers to retrieve data from the dosimeter at the end of each shift/work week and analyze the results on a personal computer.
Sperian developed QuietDose following its 2008 acquisition of doseBusters USA, a pioneer in personal noise dosimetry technology.
[Source: Howard Leight/Sperian]
