In-ear dosimetry

The Howard Leight QuietDose personal dosimeter measures and records in-ear exposure to noise, measuring the actual noise levels reaching a worker’s eardrums in real time, over an entire work day, providing personalised data to create a hearing conservation program for each worker.

Workers can also personally monitor and control their noise exposure in real time, with flashing alerts to indicate when noise exposure reaches prescribed limits.

The system consists of a small ‘exposure smart protector’ dosimeter worn in a shirt pocket or on the back of a hard hat; protective ear-tips or an earmuff with integrated microphones that record in-ear noise levels; and connecting harness. An infrared reader enables data to be retrieved from it and analysed on a computer.

The instrument enables safety managers and employees to track, document and address the potential of occupational hearing loss and standard threshold shift; select appropriate hearing protectors for each employee’s noise environment; train and monitor employees as to the correct use of earplugs or earmuffs; identify potential opportunities to eliminate dual protection (using earplugs and earmuffs); and compare the benefit of monitoring employee noise dose versus making capital investments in engineering controls to reduce specific noise levels.