Safe Speed Forums

Have a link to a new type of hearing protection for motorcycle users. This product can help in protecting riders from high levels of wind and engine noise.

This helps to make your drive more comfortable and far less stressfull allowing you to concentrate clearer.

www.diycustomplugs.com

An obvious 'plug'

Pardon?!

_________________
Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Wasn't Plug a character in some old comic?

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

He was - in the Bash Street Kids in The Beano. He was the really ugly one - hence the term "PLUG" ugly.
I haven't looked, but I guess the Bash Street Kids are politically incorrect now!!

_________________
Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Ho hum, they talk about a SNR of at 20db or 26db, would be interesting to know what the actual low, medium , high attenuations/frequencies are, also noted as being suitable for military, most of the gear we had for use on the range was an 'impact' type attentuation.

Also noted that they are not yet CE certified.

_________________
Gordon Brown saying I got the country into it's current economic mess so I'll get us out of it is the same as Bomber Harris nipping over to Dresden and offering to repair a few windows.

Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done.

http://www.wildcrafts.co.uk

Is that a problem?
Cumbria SAFETY cameras dont have one either.
They recently failed to produce one in court in Cumbria, but the judge let them off, saying it did not affect whether they worked or not.

_________________
Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

There are exhaustive standards, which specify what the product/garment is required to do & how the manufacturer can comply. Manufacturers can meet their legal duties by manufacturing either in accordance with basic health & safety requirements, or to specific standards.

In the majority of cases PPE will be made to standardise European Standards or 'Norms' (ENs). These will gradually replace British Standards (BSs), which will become known as BS ENs. Where ENs are not yet finalised, they are known as Provisional European Norms (prENs).

Our earplugs have been safety tested and approved in America under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. The product was tested and passed (ANSI) Standard Z24.22 1957 with an American reduction level at the ear of NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) of 26 Db.

Please note that this reduction rating calculation for America is shown below.

‘Personal Protective Equipment, such as ear plugs or muffs, may be used to reduce the amount of noise exposure. Each plug or muff has a noise reductions rating (NRR) as evaluated by ANSI Standards (S3.19 - 1974 or Z24.22 - 1957). The actual effectiveness of a hearing protection device can be estimated by subtracting 7 from the NRR and dividing the number by 2. [(NRR-7)/2] For example, if a work area has an ambient noise exposure of 96 dB(A), the hearing protectors should have an NRR of 20 or better to be effective.’

According to OSHA Regulations, each location with noise exposures of 85 to 89 dB(A) will provide hearing protectors for the Employee's optional use. Noise exposures at 90 dB(A) or above require the mandatory use of hearing protection. Further, OSHA requires that a variety of hearing protectors be available for Employees to choose (both a variety of plug and muff type hearing protectors).

UK police motorcyclists done tests and showed an average wind noise at 70 mph and above of 80 – 100 db and more

Example of Our Earplug

1. The environmental noise level as measured at the ear is 92 dBA
2. The NRR is 26 decibels (dB)
3. The level of noise entering the ear is approximately equal to 66 dB

The continuous acoustical loading of our environment can lead even in early years to damage of the hearing mechanism. Hearing damage can start at a continuous stress level of 85 dB. This is, for example, the noise level emitted by heavy road traffic. Following a brief encounter with high noise levels, the fine hair cells of the hearing organ recover. The result is usually only a temporarily limited hearing capacity.
On the other hand, if one is subjected repeatedly and over longer periods to extreme noise stress, these auditory sensory cells are severely damaged, with no chance to regenerate. Medical specialists therefore view listening to loud music on the part of young people, such as in discos or through headsets, as especially dangerous. The sound intensities through headsets for instance can easily reach 110-120 decibels.

Although hearing protectors can be recommended for protection against harmful effects of impulse noise, the NRR is based on attenuation of continuous noise and may not be an accurate indicator of protection attainable against impulsive noise such as gunfire.

However we are carrying out a full set of test on top of all testing currently done in America to the latest CE standard for earplugs which will be completed this week. This is to allows us to comply worldwide with our earplugs in all applications such as manufacturing and factory applications.

Ho hum - voltage wise - 6 db is twice the power ratio, powerwise 4 times - what you're looking for is the frequency curve used to plot the power ratios over - and at what frequency the SNR is taken at - what (i am told - and you're the expert here) does the damage to our eardrums if low frequency noise ---likethat from a drill and the noise from explosions - me old dad is /has been HF deaf ( above 5khz)since age 45 -- he was an anti aircraft gunner in WW2 ---NO HSE in those days.

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Botach, sound is the same as power.

Ernest, having a CE mark on PPE is very important as if the HSE descended they wouldn't accept PPE being used that isn't CE marked.

The quotes from the EPA testing and OSHA Regs is very fine sounding but given the action levels in the UK are lower could be seen as misleading (whether intentionally or not).

Personally I would wait for the results of the CE testing as the standard is generally more stringent that the US testing.

At the risk of being really cynical, I've seen a fair chunk of PPE quoting foriegn (often US) standards that when subjected to CE testing falls well short. So at present am very cynical especially the claims on the website indicate suitability for such a wide range of environments.


If you get CE certification I'd be interested in hearing more, but until then wouldn't touch this product with a bargepole.

_________________
Gordon Brown saying I got the country into it's current economic mess so I'll get us out of it is the same as Bomber Harris nipping over to Dresden and offering to repair a few windows.

Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done.

http://www.wildcrafts.co.uk

[quote="Safety Engineer"]Botach, sound is the same as power.

quote]


OK- lets get technical - dBm - relative to 1 mw, mv into 75/600/ stated impedance

dBr -- relative to a fixed figure.
dBmoP --- A WEIGHTED FIGURE - usaly used for noise readings on a network, usaully what the ear might pick up .

plenty more dBxxxx ----needs to be qualified to mean something - needs a reference to be able to be quantified --

Sorry - SE - MY TRADE - I'M a transmission engineer - how to get xxx calls on a line by multiplex and quality of broadcast ---where dB NEED to be qualified - saying sound = power don't mean much - all transmission media needs to be quantified by reference to trhe noise present on the line

Saying that noise is xx dB , MEANS NOTHING TO ME - LIKE A FIGURE ON A LOLLIPOP - it has to be referenced to an absolute reference figure.

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

OK, sound is measured on a logarithmic scale, normally measured for H&S purposes as db(a) i.e. the range of frequencies that the human ear can discriminate (hear), don't know the freq range offhand, (it's been a long day) but will come back with a proper technical answer.

_________________
Gordon Brown saying I got the country into it's current economic mess so I'll get us out of it is the same as Bomber Harris nipping over to Dresden and offering to repair a few windows.

Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done.

http://www.wildcrafts.co.uk

I use Max Lite earplugs from Howard Leight (a bit of a mouthful if you say it quickly) on my motorbike and they definitely do the biz. I think I bought them on a recommendation from Ride magazine.

I dont have a call for earplugs, but do use ear muffs!

I found Husqvarna ones were well ahead of any other I've tried, and if I needed them, and Husqvarna made them, they would be the first ones I'd try.

_________________
Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Human ear range - depends on age of person and damage if any to ear - can range in a teenager with perfect hearing from about 100hz to 15+Khz - --some can actually detect 20khz, more by sesning it than hearing it - we used to experiment with it in one lab - in my early 20s i could "detect " about 18khz, but as you get older the range, particularly the high end decreases.
From conversations with medics - so possibly MM can advise - constant exposure to low frequency noise can damage hearing - drills etc - i'm told every medical that mine is getting close to borderline , but i seem to hear the bass of chav mobiles only too well as they pass by.

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

The CD sampling rate of 44100Hz, resulting with an upper useful ceiling of 22050Hz, was looked upon as being the necessary limit to suit everyone. Conversely, I recently saw an article stating the upper limit for old people is around 12kHz. At the other end of the spectrum, frequencies under 20Hz are considered subsonic.

I’ve been blessed with an extended audible range; hence I have an ear for music but it also means I have to spend more on audio equipment (for range and linearity) to enjoy it. I don’t like the idea of repelling young yobs with use of the ‘ultrasonic’ repellent because I know it’ll drive me nuts (I’m 32). I can easily hear the new 17kHz ‘Mosquito’ ringtone – an absolutely ingenious idea for discreet alerts for youngsters when at school. I can also correctly discriminate pure tone notes below 40Hz (but I can hear well below that).

AH- CD sampling rate - as a rough guide ( stop me if i'm praeching to the converted) is that it should be twice the highest frequency( to effectively sample and playback the recorded sound) ---for cd , this is about 40 Khz, for telecomms systems is about 8 Khz , ( 44100 = max freq of 22050 Hz) . Any way, it's not ony those blessed with a good music ear that appreciate a sound system with a wide range - apart from the basic range , frequencies at the high end create "harmonics" = multiples of the origonal frequency , not always audible, but enhancing the quality of the music played( so i am told)--but then we found apprentices of 18 being able to detect and sometimes hear about 18-20 Khz, on a good quality amp/speaker system , one with a 3 dB range of 20 - 30khz(professional quality)

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I refuse to be converted – I remain firmly in the analogue domain

Yup, me too. (also 32), ultrasonic motion detectors, burglar alarms in peoples houses (walking by) and nobody else in the group can which is infuriating, HT whine on TV's & monitors all drive me nut, as does the whine on my HID lighting ballasts for the car. I (also bit of an audiophile) will quite happily sit with my Grado's (don't like senheisers) picking out the background elements of music. Every rattle, squeak & knock in the car has me re-enacting that VW advert from the 90's looking for the culprit! My hearing is precious & good quality plugs get used regularily at work when cutting/drilling, saying that I will crank up the volume every so often and rattle the doors...