Central Institute for Labour Protection - National Research Institute (CIOP-PIB), Poland.
Int J Occup Saf Ergon. 2021 Dec;27(4):1005-1018. doi: 10.1080/10803548.2021.1883906. Epub 2021 Mar 2.
Hearing protectors are selected for workstation noise using the octave band (OB), HML and SNR methods. The purpose of this study was to determine how the frequency components of the noise can affect the selection of hearing protectors. In total, 55 hearing protectors were selected for four types of real occurring noise, high-frequency noise, low-frequency noise and eight simulated noises. Analysis showed that the noise type affects the accuracy of selection carried out using the HML and SNR methods. For a noise with dominant frequency components, the result for selection carried out using the HML method deviates from the result using the OB method by 7 and 9 dB for earmuffs and earplugs, respectively. The study shows that use of the HML and SNR methods may lead to wrong assessment of the effectiveness of hearing protection with the selected hearing protectors.
听力保护器是使用倍频程 (OB)、HML 和 SNR 方法选择用于工作场所噪声的。本研究的目的是确定噪声的频率成分如何影响听力保护器的选择。共选择了 55 个听力保护器，用于四种实际噪声，高频噪声、低频噪声和八种模拟噪声。分析表明，噪声类型会影响使用 HML 和 SNR 方法进行的选择的准确性。对于具有主导频率分量的噪声，使用 HML 方法进行选择的结果与使用 OB 方法相比，耳罩和耳塞的偏差分别为 7 和 9 dB。研究表明，使用 HML 和 SNR 方法可能会导致对所选听力保护器的听力保护效果的错误评估。
