If you’re someone who works with heavy and loud equipment, then you probably know that workplace safety is paramount. Not being adequately protected can cause a lot of health problems, including hearing loss.
This is where hearing protectors with a high NRR rating come in. What is NRR, you may ask? This abbreviation stands for Noise Reduction Rating.
The higher the NRR, the more noise the equipment will block out. This means that you’ll be safe from the loud noises in your working environment.
Whether you’re someone who works in such an environment or you’re an employer, it’s important to know about the NRR and decibels. We will discuss both in more detail in this article.
Why Is Hearing Protection Important?
Some people may wonder why this is so important. Your hearing is precious, and there are laws in place to make sure that workers can have the most protection possible.
If you happen to be working in an environment where you have to work with noisy equipment, the law usually requires that you wear something to protect your hearing.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has defined that anyone working with noises louder than 85 decibels over the course of 8 hours needs to use protection.
It’s recommended that you work in an environment with as little dangerous noise as possible, but this is not an option for some people.
And, if you’re someone who likes rock music, for example, you may want to avoid going to rock concerts too often since those tend to have the highest decibels out of all loud environments.
Exposing yourself to loud noise too often can cause you to experience severe hearing loss. If you pay attention to the NRR and make sure to get the highest rating earplugs possible, you’ll be protecting yourself more.
You absolutely want to make sure that you’re doing the most to protect your hearing. Most hearing loss is considered to be irreversible.
What Is NRR?
This is where NRR comes in. Noise reduction rating is a number given to a hearing protector based on how many decibels someone will get when using it.
These protection devices have a rating between 0 and around 33, with 33 providing the most protection.
If you want to know how much protection you’ll get against loud noises, take the NRR rating and subtract seven from it. Then, divide by 2. This will be the number of decibels that you will be exposed to due to wearing the protection.
Another important thing to note is that you need to be sure that you’re wearing the protection correctly. If you don’t put earplugs in exactly the way the instructions state, for example, you won’t be receiving as much protection and will be exposed to higher decibels as a result.
It also depends on what kind of activity you will be participating in. For example, if you want something to help you block out surrounding noises, you won’t need equipment with as high of an NRR rating as someone who works in a factory with loud machinery. Protect yourself with the highest NRR earmuffs.
What Is DB Rating?
You can use a decibel meter or sound level meter to measure how loud an environment is. The decibel meter will measure how low a sound is and display it in Decibels (dB) units.
You may also come across a DB rating when you’re evaluating the best equipment to use. For example, you may see that a pair of headphones with an NRR rating of a certain number can protect against noises with a DB rating of another number.
The DB rating is simply the number of decibels that a certain noise is.
What Are Decibels?
When talking about sounds and loud sounds, it is important to understand what decibels are.
To put it simply, we use decibels to measure how loud something is. For example, someone speaking is 60 decibels, and a gunshot is around 140 decibels. Anything that is louder than 85 decibels can cause problems.
There are very tiny hairs in your ears that allow you to hear. These can pick up virtually every noise you can think of, from the tiniest whisper to the loudest rock concerts. Unfortunately, these hairs are also susceptible and can be easily damaged.
If you’re constantly being exposed to loud noises, then these tiny hairs can be severely damaged, which will ultimately lead to hearing loss. And most forms of hearing loss are considered to be irreversible.
If someone who works in a loud environment or otherwise will have to be exposed to sounds with high decibels for about 8 hours daily, you have to take matters into your own hands and protect your ear health.
NRR vs. DB
Now, you might be wondering what the difference between NRR and decibels is. Noise reduction vs. decibels is actually a pretty simple concept to understand.
Decibels (DB)
For one, decibels are the units of measurement used to measure how loud a particular sound is. Therefore, to understand the NRR, you will need to be able to understand this.
Most of the noises you will be exposed to regularly are pretty quiet and low in terms of decibel ratings. A decibel rating of around zero means that the area you’re in is silent.
However, if you’re being exposed to loud noises, that number gets higher and higher. This goes until the loudest sound possible, which you will be able to hear at a rock concert.
Being exposed to such loud noises for a few hours won’t hurt you. But, if you’re someone who is working in a factory or in any other place where you’ll be exposed to such volumes for several hours at a time every day, you’ll need to consider your options.
NRR
And this is where the NRR comes in. Noise reduction ratings are important for hearing protection. When you know the number of decibels the noise you will be exposed to is, you can then determine how high of an NRR you want.
Hearing protection with higher NRR will help you to block out the loudest sounds. However, if you want to block out surrounding noise on public transportation, for example, then you won’t need to use protection with as high of an NRR.
Understanding the connection and the difference between NRR and decibels is important for protecting your ear health as best as you can.
Now, let’s talk about how to make the most out of your NRR equipment.
Make the Most out of Your Equipment
Since you now know how important hearing protection is and what NRR is, you also need to know how to ensure that you get ample protection from your equipment, such as;
- Lawn Mower Hearing Pro
- Hearing Protection for Shooting
As we mentioned, you will first need to determine how many decibels of sound you will be exposed to. If you’re going to be constantly exposed to very loud sounds, you’re obviously going to have to use equipment with a higher NRR.
Noise reduction ratings range from 0 to around 33. Of course, you would want to use 33 for painfully loud sounds. Take the decibel rating, subtract seven from it, and divide by two to know how many decibels you’ll be exposed to.
Make sure that you’re also wearing the equipment properly. If you’re using electronic earplugs, for example, you need to follow the instructions carefully. They explain how to insert them correctly in your ear canal and what setting you need to use. Otherwise, you won’t be as protected.
And, if you’ve already experienced hearing loss due to a lack of protection, you’ll want to use equipment with the highest NRR possible to prevent any further hearing loss. You can also try out several natural remedies that might reverse hearing loss to some degree.
Conclusion
If you want to protect yourself and your hearing adequately, it is important to educate yourself on what NRR and decibels are.
Once again, decibels are the units of measurement used to measure how loud a particular noise is on a scale of 0 to around 150. Zero is almost total silence, whereas 150 is the loudest rock concert or fireworks.
When you want to see how potentially dangerous something will be for your hearing, you will need to see how many decibels it is. Anything that is below 85 decibels is fine for you to be exposed to regularly.
For example, your basic conversations and most everyday activities won’t cause hearing loss due to loudness.
However, if you’re constantly being exposed to noises above 85 decibels, you will need to consider using hearing protection with a higher noise protection rating.
It is crucial to understand just how necessary protecting your hearing is and all you can do to maintain the quality of your hearing. Most cases of hearing loss are irreversible, so make sure to protect yourself before it’s too late.
Sources:
How Loud Noise Causes Hearing Loss – CDC
Why isn’t this applied to businesses with high DB overhead music, and background speaking, eating out, out of frequency mikes with people screaming about wearing masks, or clean up on isle 4? Noisy children, screaming, for HEARING AID WEARERS BTE? Even high wind is painful. I have to remove mine and the DB is still to high. I can’t turn them down low enough. 40 DB noise reduction is necessary. 2 Meniere’s attacks have destroyed L ear hearing, Right is Barley there, middle range fair, low little, Flight Deck DB Way to high. Muffs are not comfortable or expandable enough. Shooting muffs are the highest DB rated.