Protecting Your Team: How to Navigate the HSE's Workplace Noise Intervention with Confidence

Image source: https://careers.hse.gov.uk/professions/health-and-safety-inspectors/

From the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) :

Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety has kicked off a new workplace noise intervention – we found out more about what inspectors will be looking for.

During the first year of the HSE’s workplace noise intervention, inspectors will be targeting high noise industries and assessing duty holders’ management of hearing protection using the acronym ‘CUFF’:

C = CONDITION

Is the hearing protection in good order and well maintained?

U = USE

Are the employees using the hearing protection when needed?

F = FIT THE EAR

Have the employees fitted their hearing protection properly?

F = FIT FOR PURPOSE

Is the hearing protection correctly specified? Is it over attenuating and causing a safety risk or under attenuating and exposing workers to noise?

'Hearing protection will be the focus in the first instance as it is used across a broad range of industries and creates significant management challenges,' Dr Rachel van Besouw, a specialist inspector in noise and vibration at the HSE, told IOSH magazine.

'As the workplace noise intervention progresses the focus will shift from individual protection to collective technical and organisational protective measures that eliminate or reduce exposure to noise in the workplace,' she added.

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How Eave can support you during the HSE’s new Workplace Noise Intervention

The Health and Safety Executive’s Noise & Vibration Specialist Paul Delderfield‘s update on HSE‘s Workplace Noise Intervention at The Health & Safety Event, NEC Birmingham.

The Eave system offers a comprehensive solution for safeguarding your team and navigating the HSE's Workplace Noise Intervention with confidence. At its core, the Eave solution features the FocusLite smart ear defenders, which not only provide essential hearing protection but also offer situational awareness. These ear defenders are equipped to collect crucial noise and hearing protection use data, enabling near real-time insights and analysis through the Peak online platform.

Let's break down how the Eave solution can specifically support duty holders during the HSE’s new Workplace Noise Intervention starting with the specifics of CUFF:

Condition: the complete Eave solution can ensure that your team's hearing protection is in optimal condition with reminders to use hygiene kits for ear cushion replacements every 6-12 months, and prompts to inspect the ear defenders, ear cushions and connectors if there's a decline in Personal Attenuation Rate or an increase in personal noise dose level as shown on Peak. Additionally, you are able to ensure that helmet clips and c-clips are securely attached, along with the usage of the USB grit cover on the charging port to ensure good condition. With its modular and easy to maintain design, the FocusLite hearing protection can be kept in optimal condition for multiple years, even when used in harsh industrial environments, ensuring the effectiveness of the hearing protection you have provided to your team. Each registered FocusLite comes with a 12 month warranty and the highest standards of customer support to ensure the condition of the hearing protection remains optimal, ensuring the necessary protection is provided throughout the product lifetime.

Use: The complete Eave solution ensures that the FocusLite hearing protection are consistently utilised during shifts. Monitoring Peak overexposures and unprotected events, you can track trends to ensure that your team's exposure to noise is minimised. By aligning hearing protection usage with shift patterns and maintaining a trend towards a 100% wear rate as tracked on Peak, Eave can help you to ensure that your team is adequately protected at all times.

Fit The Ear: Proper fitting of ear defenders is crucial for effective protection. Eave provides training on how to wear the ear muff correctly and guides users to adjust the bracket so that the cups properly cover the ears. By monitoring Peak personal dose levels and ensuring they remain below 100%, Eave can help you to ensure that the hearing of every member of your team is safeguarded.

Fit For Purpose: Eave goes beyond basic protection by enabling level-dependent HearThrough via theFocusLite. This technology allows users to maintain situational awareness while still benefiting from hearing protection. By ensuring that Peak personal dose levels remain below 100%, Eave can help you to ensure that the hearing protection is not just worn but also optimised for maximum effectiveness. This means that you will be able to ensure that your team are neither under nor over-protected (receiving excessive attenuation/over-attenuated). The level-dependent Focuslite hearing protection ensures the right level of protection is being provided even when the environment noise level fluctuates over time.

Eave can empower duty holders and site managers with the tools and insights needed to proactively address the CUFF expectations of the HSE's Workplace Noise Intervention requirements. By seamlessly integrating hearing protection with data collection and analysis, Eave streamlines compliance efforts, helping you to ensure the safety and well-being of your team when in noise.

But it doesn’t end there. The HSE inspections will go beyond CUFF as outlined below. Eave is ready to support you in addressing these additional crucial aspects.

What the Inspections Will Look Like: The inspections under HSE's Workplace Noise Intervention will scrutinise various facets of noise management in the workplace. From the adequacy of hearing protection to the implementation of control measures, inspectors will conduct thorough assessments to ensure compliance with regulations and standards.

Training on the use of hearing protection: One key area of focus will be whether adequate training on the proper fitting of hearing protection has been provided to workers. Eave can support this by offering training modules and guidance on how to correctly wear and adjust ear defenders for optimal protection.

Maintaining Wear Rates: Inspectors will also examine whether wear rates of hearing protection are being maintained at acceptable levels. Eave's data collection capabilities can track usage patterns, alerting managers if there are deviations from recommended wear rates, thereby facilitating proactive intervention.

Correct Specification of Hearing Protection: Concerns regarding over or under protection/attenuation will be addressed during inspections. Eave's technology ensures that the hearing protection provided is correctly specified for the noise levels encountered in specific work environments, mitigating the risk of either over-protection/attenuation leading to communication issues or under-protection causing exposure to harmful noise levels.

Maintenance of Hearing Protection: Regular maintenance of hearing protection is crucial for ensuring its effectiveness. Eave can assist in this aspect by providing reminders for maintenance tasks such as cleaning and replacing components, thereby prolonging the lifespan of protective equipment and maintaining compliance with regulations.

Recommended Controls: Inspectors will assess whether appropriate control measures are in place to minimise noise exposure. Eave can help by offering insights into the effectiveness of existing controls and recommending additional measures based on near real-time noise data collected from the workplace.

Buy Quiet Scheme: The implementation of a Buy Quiet scheme, which prioritises the procurement of quieter equipment and machinery, will be evaluated. Eave can support duty holders in implementing and monitoring such schemes, ensuring that noise levels are minimised at the source.

Control Action List: Duty holders will be expected to have a comprehensive control action list in place to address identified noise hazards. Eave can assist in developing and managing this list, ensuring that all necessary actions are documented and tracked for implementation.

CUFF Approach: As detailed above, the CUFF approach, focusing on Condition, Use, Fit the Ear, and Fit for Purpose of hearing protection, will guide inspectors' assessments. Eave aligns with this approach by providing tools and insights to ensure that each aspect is addressed effectively, thus demonstrating compliance with regulatory requirements.

Noise report quality: The HSE will also be collecting and assessing third party workplace noise survey reports for the quality of the advice provided.

HSE's Objective: It's essential to note that the HSE's objective is not to catch duty holders out but rather to promote awareness and adherence to regulations. Eave can support you with this objective by empowering duty holders with the tools and information needed to proactively manage noise risks in the workplace, fostering a culture of safety and compliance.

As the HSE's Workplace Noise Intervention unfolds, ensuring the safety and well-being of your team amidst heightened scrutiny is paramount. The team at Eave stands ready to support duty holders and site managers through this process. Our comprehensive solution offers not just hearing protection but a proactive approach to compliance. By addressing the CUFF expectations and beyond, Eave empowers you with tools and insights to navigate inspections with confidence. Together, we can foster a culture of safety, compliance, and proactive risk management in the face of evolving regulatory requirements.

Contact us today to learn more about how Eave can safeguard your team during the HSE's Workplace Noise Intervention.