One Size Earplug Does NOT Fit All Size Ears

While it would be ideal to find just one earplug to fit all workers at a company, the reality is that people have different sizes (and shapes) of ear canals. Fitting ear canals of all shapes and sizes doesn’t have to be difficult, so ear plug manufactures make both XL and Small sized earplug. Part of the OSHA regulation specifies that you must have a selection of plugs and/or muffs for employees to choice from.  Ideally, some qualified person should verify that the plug selected by an employee does indeed fit.

I have seen both ends of the spectrum of problems with ill-fitted plugs. Big guys commonly have very large ear canals and some “standard” size foam ear plugs can slide in and out without providing any protection to the user. A disposable plug needs to “expand” in the ear canal to form a tight seal, otherwise the posted NRR (noise reduction rating) is not being met. Likewise, some females who try to use foam earplugs that are too big have difficulty getting the plug inserted into the ear canal, resulting in the same problems.

Feel free to contact Conney Safety Support at 800-462-1947 to assist with sizing options for Earplugs.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 4:45 am and is filed under Workplace Compliance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.