An evaluation of comfort afforded by hearing protection devices

Abstract

This paper focused on the comfort afforded by 3 models of hearing protection devices. Devices were selected and, after being tested in a real occupational context, evaluated using a questionnaire regarding different comfort indexes. In this way, it was possible to compare the “performance” of the hearing protectors regarding the comfort indexes, and to determine which one, globally, has afforded the greatest comfort. Since that it is not likely that all the indexes contribute in the same way to the global comfort sensation, each worker was asked to score the importance of each index evaluated before. This enabled to order the indexes by the importance they have on the global comfort feeling. It is hopped that this study contributes to a greater efficacy of the hearing conservation programs implemented through the use of hearing protection.