Hearing conservation means protecting your ears from excessively loud sounds.
Examples of everyday sounds and their decibel levels are below. Earplugs are recommended when you are exposed to sounds of
85 dB and above. As a general rule, if noise is too loud for you to speak at a normal conversation level and be heard, you
should wear earplugs, move away from the noise source, or better yet, turn it down.
A very good place to start your education about hearing conservation is at
the League for the Hard of Hearing "Noise Center". The link is: http://www.lhh.org/noise/index.htm. Another good site with information on hearing conservation is at the web site for the National Institute on Deafness
and other Communication Disorders. There link is: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/health.htm
More examples of hearing conservation tips are below. Remember that even if you experience tinnitus now, it is never
too late to protect your hearing from further damage
Sounds You Live By
Decibel levels of common sounds:
20
- Ticking watch
30 - Quiet whisper
40 - Rustling leaves, refrigerator hum
50 - Rainfall
60 - Normal conversation,
dishwasher
70 - Normal street noise
80 - Police whistle, noisy restaurant
85 - Average factory
95 - MRI
100
- Blow dryer, subway train
105 - Power mower, chainsaw
120 - Rock concert, fireworks display
130 - Jet engine
plane (100 ft. away)
140 - Shotgun blast, airbag deployment
Earplugs are recommended for sounds of 85 dB and above.
Hearing Conservation Tips
1. Be conscious of the noise in your environment. If you are standing three feet away
from someone and you can't hear what that person is saying to you the noise level is likely damaging to your hearing.
2. Wear earplugs during the trailers at the movies. The volume is typically cranked up for these. Ask the manager
of the theatre to turn the volume down if the movie is too loud. They will very often comply with this request.
3. Take earplugs to amusement parks and concerts...and wear them! You will still be able to hear. Earplugs just cut
out 15-20 decibels of loud sounds.
4. Wear earplugs or protective earmuffs when using a power lawn mower, power tools, and noisy household appliances,
like a vacuum.
5. Read the labels for noise levels on appliances, children's toys, and any product that generates sound.
