Ear defenders

Hello

We have a cnc router at work that we use for cutting various materials ranging from foam, aluminium, wood and Perspex.

We currently have standard ear muff type defenders but are they actually any good? Cutting can be quite loud (even just running the machine without cutting anything is loud).

Today my boss cut some aluminium in the cnc room and i was in the room with muffs on but the cutting was going in for a good couple of hours and in the end i decided to work in the office we have in a building next door. I got in a bit of trouble because of this and the boss said it wasnt too loud but to be honest with you, i felt it was, especially for the length of time.

I guess my question is which ear defenders would be best for using the cnc?

 

why not use the foam insert 1s,then use the ear defenders over the top.

 

Yes i could do that.

Id feel more comfortable with the EN recommendations on sound/noise exposure and what defender will meet the requirements

 

You get different ratings of ear muffs, and they can also wear out over time aswell (usually by losing their springiness in the headband)

 

Ok how can i find out what rating i need

 

By measuring the sound pressure level that you are exposed to.

Which is not the least bit helpful unless you have a SPL meter.

So you can either buy a cheap pair and see how you get on or buy some like these which are about as good as it gets for standard ear defenders at sane prices:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/3m-peltor-optime-iii-ear-defenders-35db-snr/13258

 

Those look good. We have a few pairs but they look so cheap and shoddy compared to that. If work dont want to buy them ill buy them myself

 

Electronic muffs popular with shooters can cost £250 quid.
Not sure how they would behave with a screaming cnc machine.

 

I think you need to have a look at the regulations about noise in the workplace. From what I can see, saying it's "not very noisy" is way short of what should be done. Just supplying ear defenders isn't an answer either. The source of the noise needs to be reduced in some way.
There's a lot about noise on the H & S website, and some explanation here
http://www.tonywoolf.co.uk/noiseregs.htm (no connection to me)

 

Luckily we are moving premises soon and having a h and e officer starting. Im planning to get them to measure noise levels etc

 

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