Is Your Hearing Protection for Real or for Rail?

ProtectHear provides the very best in custom ear protection for the Rail Industry and offers a ‘Free Trial’ to prove it

ProtectHear is a small British company which supplies custom moulded ear plugs and radio communication solutions to the rail sector. The company, which was established in 2000, is proud to be the only approved supplier of personally moulded hearing protection to Network Rail. With rail suppliers British Steel also using ProtectHear to provide their workers with dependable hearing protection.

Safety is the number one priority on the railway, with communication being vital especially when working on track improvements/maintenance. Making sure your staff are protected is very important, but equally as important is ensuring they are not over protected either.

ProtectHear custom ear plugs allow all audible sirens, oncoming train noise and warning signals to be heard by users.

To enhance communication further, ProtectHear ear plugs can be connected to radios and phones through the SpeakHear System, compatible with popular radios such as Motorola and Hytera.

A RailStaff article in 2020 mentioned that the average turnover rate for staff in the UK rail sector is only three per cent; this is a very low staff turnover when you compare this to the UK median rate of 13.6 per cent. ProtectHear moulded ear plugs have a warranty and lifespan of five years, all the mouldings taken being kept on file for this period of time, this makes the replacement process quick and easy. When the five-year lifespan has reached its end, a renewal is advised but this isn’t due to the durability of the product, but due to the ear shape changing over time.

Thousands of disposable ear plugs and the packaging they come in are thrown away every single day; this alongside other disposable PPE is consequently filling up landfill. During the Coronavirus Pandemic meaning it is more important than ever to reduce waste. The ProtectHear ear plugs were designed with sustainability in mind, with one pair of ear plugs having a lifespan of five years; this reduces landfill greatly compared to the throwaway protection which is replaced daily.

Shaun Penn, Inventory Controller and buyer at EDF Energy said: ‘We are using ProtectHear at our new Gas fired Power Station. I prefer ProtectHear to disposable ear plugs as they are very easy to fit and comfortable in use and an added bonus is that the cost savings are genuine compared to disposables. When you start to do the maths in comparison to using four to five pairs of disposable earplugs a day the money saving over the life span of the ProtectHear which are purchased with a one off payment, becomes quite significant.

‘The team at ProtectHear go out of their way to help us, especially when it comes to scheduling visits and fittings. They are large enough to cope with big organisations like ours yet still offer a friendly and personal service and will schedule visits strategically, so we are able to mould and fit the product with a minimum of fuss and disruption.’

Investing in ProtectHear combined with education and support from the employer is a win/win for businesses with noisy railway worker environments. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), states that by law companies that have provided employees with hearing protection need to provide information and training. The HSE also states that it is the employers’ responsibility to ensure employees are using the hearing protection correctly and that the ear plugs are being maintained. This makes the training so important, to ensure users are fitting their hearing protection correctly and are being fully protected. ProtectHear offers this type of support to customers by offering toolbox talks, to help users of the product understand why wearing their hearing protection is so essential. It is also important for employees to know how to fit and care for their hearing protection, which is what ProtectHear provides, using different types of resource including face to face meetings if required.

Once Noise Surveys are completed it can be difficult for employers to decide what the next steps are, in terms of what level of protection is needed, especially when employees might not be working just in one noisy area the whole time, with the site having different levels of noise throughout which have to be considered. As stated by The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) any hearing protector that reduces the level of noise coming to the ear to below 70Db should not be used, as there is a risk of overprotection.

So, with this in mind there has to be a balance between protecting your work force, but not over protecting them and isolating them from their work environment.

ProtectHear provides a range of filters that are applicable for many working environments, whether it is just above the noise at work threshold, where the lowest attenuating product is required or heavy industrial environments, where the higher level of protection is needed.

Whether your teams work early morning or late nights ProtectHear will accommodate a time to suit your needs. It is also not always realistic to expect that every employee needing hearing protection is available in one session, or that there is always a group of employees that need mouldings for each department, which is why there is no service charge for appointments and there is no minimum order quantity either.

Jean Collison, SHE Department for William Hare said: ‘After undertaking a very successful trial in 2007 we selected ProtectHear personally moulded earplugs for our hearing protection. Employees at all levels use the product, both in the facilities and on-site.

The product protects from factory noise but enables workers to still hear warning bells, which is critical. Although background noise is reduced, speech can still be heard, which is extremely useful.

Employees really like them as they are comfortable and perform well. Our staff appreciates the product as it is more personal and better quality compared to disposables. Working with ProtectHear is a really good experience. Everything is organised well and any questions are answered straight away. They also go the extra mile by helping us promote a sensible health and safety culture internally; they have been involved in some very helpful toolbox talks which clearly state the benefits of the product to our employees when it comes to hearing protection.’

To prove how confident ProtectHear are of their product a ‘Free Trial’ is offered, where your company can trial the product for an eight-week period with a group of employees to assess how the product suits your working environment. As stated education and service is of the upmost importance, so those participating in the trial are given toolbox talks when the ear plugs are delivered.

To find out more you can contact a member of the ProtectHear team in the office, during the normal working hours of 9am to 5pm Monday-Friday. Alternatively you can fill in an online enquiry form on the website.

Tel: 01507 604322

Email: enquiries@protecthear.co.uk

Visit: www.protecthear.co.uk

Address: At Source QX Ltd 18 Eve Street, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 OJJ