Howard Leight is primarily a hearing protection company and is a subsidiary of the world leader in safety equipment, Honeywell Safety Products.  For over 30 years Howard Leight has turned the noise down and listened to what their customers really need.  Today, they lead the industry by having the most choices of in-ear hearing protection while offering the latest innovations. As a leader in hearing protection, Howard Leight is committed to moving forward by taking comfort and protection to a new level.  They promise to pursue the prevention of occupational hearing loss by offering the best in performance and comfort.

Hearing Protection Options:

There are many advantages and disadvantages to consider when choosing the right hearing protection. There are two basics to choose from, ear plugs and earmuffs. Ear plugs are molded to fit the ear and come in reusable and disposable models. In short, they are generally less expensive than earmuffs– although not always the case with custom made ear plugs– and they are more comfortable in hot and damp weather. However, earplugs are less visible and largely provide less protection than earmuffs and should not be used in areas having high-noise levels.

Earmuffs have a variety of sizes, materials and depth of dome to choose.  For instance, with a heaver and deeper dome the muffs creates greater low-frequency attenuation. Although they provide more protection,the headband must fit tightly enough to maintain a proper seal, yet not be too tight for comfort. Earmuffs are more expensive, though they are easier to fit and more durable than plugs. Moreover, depending on work conditions earmuffs might be less comfortable.

Keep in mind, in work-areas where noise levels can be very high, both plugs and muffs can be worn together to give best protection.

How the rating system works

NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) – This rating is used in the North America, and is accepted for use in a variety of countries. The current range of NRRs extends from 0 to 33 decibels.  There will always be a chart placed on the packages that mean attenuation values and standard deviations with at least seven test frequencies (from 125 Hz through 8000 Hz).

At very loud tones, the sensitivity of the human ear has difficulty distinguishing differences in loudness between a low frequency 80 Hz tone and a high-frequency 4,000 Hz tone – to the human ear, they sound about equally loud. Thus, hearing sensitivity must be measured not only in intensity, but also in terms of frequency.   Meaning loudness is going to be perceived different according to hertz and not just loudness of decibels.

In the development of sound level meters over the years, manufacturers have built in these different response curves and named them the A-, B-, and C-weighting scales.  By far the most popular ear protection scale is the A-weighting scale.  The A-weighting scale in a sound level meter replicates this filtering process of the human ear, which is less sensitive at lower frequencies. Therefore you will often see on the back of packages dBA or db (A) stating the measurements are used with an A-scale for most accurate NRR ratings.

Comfort and Design:

The Howard Leight Company offers a vast variety of different shapes and sizes of hearing protection for job comfort. They know if protection is not comfortable it becomes more desirable for the trades-person to set the piece down, or worst not wear anything at all. That is why Howard Leight spent years perfecting the perfect ear protection systems.

Earplugs:

Single-Use Earplugs

• The Single use earplugs are a great economical and convenient choice for work situations that demand frequent changes or where hygiene presents a problem for reuse. To keep changing earplugs can get expensive if not careful.  Single-Use Earplugs can also come in corded versions.

Multiple-Use Earplugs

• Multiple use earplugs are ideal for jobsites where the tradespeople can retain and store earplugs for reuse over time – reducing waste and saving money. Multiple use ear plugs can be more comfortable with better dB.

Metal Detectable Earplugs

• Detectable earplugs are specially created for environments where the contamination by foreign objects is unacceptable. They are designed to be detectable in an industrial metal detection scanner for easy compliance with food industry regulations .Metal detectable ear plugs generally feature blue ear plugs and/or blue cords.

Banded Earplugs

• Banded earplugs are great workers in intermittent noise or managers/visitors who move in and out of noisy workplaces.

Earmuffs:

Noise Blocking Earmuffs

• Noise blocking earmuffs come in a variety of styles and shapes to match the work-environment to the desired noise reduction system. Moreover, they are easily seen at a distance to assist in the monitoring of their use, and have a one size fits all

Radio + Stereo Earmuffs

• Radio and Stereo earmuffs provide protection from noise – and let you listen to music from a built-in AM/FM radio or a personal audio device (I.e. an iPod)

Sound Management Earmuffs

• The Sound Management earmuffs from Howard Leight are unique for they are patented passive and electronic technologies that block noise, while alarms, warnings and even co-workers’ voices can be heard more naturally.

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