One size doesn’t fit all

The struggle to achieve a comfortable fit can be a
significant barrier to getting employees to wear hearing
protection. Georgina Bisby visits Ultimate Hearing
Protection Systems to find out how offering a bespoke
solution can help overcome these challenges

“You wouldn’t walk onto a
construction site and issue
everyone with size 10 boots,” says
David Marshall managing director of
Ultimate Hearing Protection Systems,
“and the same should apply to hearing
protection. The anatomy of the ear canal
varies enormously from person to person,
depending on gender, age and head shape
and therefore hearing protection
requirements vary too.”

Studies have shown that around half of
workers who wear industrial hearing
protection receive half or less of the
protection they should. In Ultimate
Hearing Protection’s experience this is
because ear defender devices are often not
worn correctly or continuously due to
improper or uncomfortable fit.

Improving compliance
Ultimate Hearing Protection is often
contacted in a last attempt to win over
workers who are rejecting hearing
protection because of issues with comfort
or fit. The company’s custom made
hearing protection uses a medical grade
silicone to craft ear defenders from exact
impressions of the users’ ears, making
every pair individual to a user.

In addition to crafting personalised
hearing protection the company can also
design and manufacture customised
factory communication improving ear
defenders to specifically address a
company’s requirements. They can do
this either by reducing the ambient noise
levels using bespoke ear plugs, or by
creating versions with speakers fitted
”
inside, facilitating clear communication in
noisy industrial environments such as
factories.

As well as industrial hearing protection
the company produces solutions for the
music industry, sports and leisure and the
military and even for those affected by
snoring. They also produce the Soundear,
custom fitted stereo ear phones which
promise incredible sound quality thanks
to their ability to cut out background
noise. The company made me a pair so
that I could experience the fitting process
which involves filling the ear with a
medical grade silicone. There is an odd
cold sensation as the silicone is injected
into the ear and the world goes quiet for
about five minutes while the silicone
cures, but all in all it is a hassle and pain
free procedure. Once I received my
Soundears, as promised the sound quality
was extremely clear and it is surprising
how low the volume needs to be set (in
the case of my iPod at less than 10% of its
potential) once you are able to effectively
block out background noise.

The plug part of the ear phones aren’t
particularly pretty to look at but more
interestingly they vary quite considerably
from one ear to the other, further
illustrating just how much the insides of
our ears vary. In terms of comfort the
plugs fit neatly into the ear to the point
that once they are fitted correctly you are
not particularly aware of them: “Some
employees literally go from not wearing
hearing protection at all to forgetting to
take it out at the end of the day once they
have a custom made pair,” says David.

Cost savings
Many companies believe that a
customised ear protection programme
will cost significantly more than their
existing solution but David suggests that
such companies often don’t have a grip
on their finances. While the unit price of
disposable ear plugs is lower, in Ultimate
Hearing Protection’s experience they tend
to be overused in a lot of workplaces:
“People are fed up with seeing disposable
earplugs all over the place so they will
throw them away when they don’t
necessarily need to. One customer we
visited had a problem with blocked drains
which when unblocked were found to be
clogged up with disposable earplugs.”
David suggests typically the cost of a
customised solution can work out at
£65/person per year versus £100/person
year for disposables.

“Custom made earplugs aren’t the best
solution for every workplace,” adds
David, suggesting that the more stable a
workforce is the more likely it is to benefit
from the technology. However David also
believes that in high noise workplaces
hearing protection issues can even
contribute to the transience of the
workforce and says: “In such cases as well
as improving PPE compliance, investing
in custom made hearing protection can
actually help to stabilise the workforce.”
To find out more, visit Ultimate Hearing
Protection Systems