What do we know about hearing protector comfort?
The purpose of the present article is to review comfort studies on hearing protector devices. Comfort is probably the most important dimension for long-term worker acceptance and effective wear of hearing protectors in noise. A short digression has been made to introduce comfort work from the textile and clothing industries where models of comfort have been attempted and comfort research is much more sophisticated. Finally, presented are some recent efforts by NIOSH to examine issues of hearing protector comfort in greater detail. These efforts include a field study of a semi-custom earplug hearing protector.
Davis
Rickie R
RR
Hearing Loss Prevention Team, Engineering and Physical Hazards Branch, Division of Applied Research and Technology, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA. rrd1@cdc.gov
D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004430:Ear Protective Devices / Q000592:standards*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D009314:National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S.; D016272:Occupational Health; D014481:United States