Le 18 June 2021

Noise prevention campaign in the construction industry

The preventers of OPPBTP (Professional Organization for the Prevention of Building and Public Works) are launching a prevention operation entitled "Against noise I act" aimed at construction workers. This campaign aims to raise awareness among professionals about the hearing risks they face daily if their ears are not properly protected. Uvex Safety, but also other partner brands such as 3M, DeltaPlus or MSA are joining this campaign to highlight the different types of hearing protection that exist for construction or public works workers. They hope to promote the hearing health of construction professionals.

Contents:

The increase in noise pollution in construction
Prevention solutions

Earmuffs and noise-cancelling headsets
Custom earplugs

The increase in noise pollution in construction

The SUMER 2017 survey (Medical surveillance of employee exposure to occupational risks) over the past twenty years has shown that, while exposure to physical constraints has generally decreased, this was not the case for noise pollution. The industry, construction and tertiary sectors are increasingly exposed to it. According to this study, 64% of construction workers would be affected by strong noise pollution caused by their workplace. This is why OPPBTP preventers have set up the "Against noise I act" campaign, with a website specially dedicated to the operation and a supporting video:

Prevention solutions

Whatever your work environment, on construction sites or in your premises, several prevention solutions exist and deserve to be applied systematically. You must first check that working conditions are optimal by adapting your equipment and ensuring that noise sources are not concentrated in the same place.

The most important point nevertheless lies in the necessity to equip yourself with hearing protection among all those offered by manufacturers: earmuffs to wear on safety helmets, noise-cancelling headsets or even custom earplugs, whether disposable or reusable.

- Earmuffs and noise-cancelling headsets

Composed of earmuffs with soft earpieces that apply directly to the periphery of the ear, noise-cancelling headsets come in many models. We offer you for example a Max 510 Coverguard noise-cancelling headset with its adjustable headband for an SNR of 29.8 dB. The individual and adaptable earmuffs are designed to be attached to protective helmets. Discover for example the Uvex K2 foldable earmuffs SNR31 model which features extra-soft foam padding, or the K4 high visibility hearing earmuffs SNR35 which benefit from sound insulation of 35 dB.

- Custom earplugs

More discreet, earplugs are generally custom-made from a material (silicone or acrylic resin) molded from an impression of the user's ear canal. There are also standard preformed plugs, made of silicone or rubber, to be inserted into the ear without prior shaping. You can also find single-use plugs made of compressible or moldable foam that must be shaped before positioning in the ear canal. Some plugs are held by a plastic headband. You can opt for a set of 15 COM-FIT disposable hearing plugs offering 33 dB isolation, or even plugs connected by a foldable headband.

If you have doubts about the level of protection you actually need, you can use applications such as the one offered by Uvex (Uvex Dezibel) to measure the sound volume of your environment to determine which hearing protection is most appropriate for your case.

Once you have perfectly identified the type of hearing protection that corresponds to your needs, you must strive to keep them on for the entire duration of noise exposure. Only under this condition will you be able to preserve your hearing from the risks encountered daily in your profession.

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