1. Be Aware of Your Surroundings
Anybody who has walked out onto a tarmac has felt firsthand the intensity of aviation's auditory strike. It doesn't take much exposure to noise to inflict damage on hearing. In fact, damage can be done in just a few seconds of exposure to extreme noise. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says 90 decibels (dB) is the maximum sound level a human can safely tolerate without risk of injury. This equates to shouting at someone at a rock concert who is about 3 feet away from you so that they can hear you. Therefore, for anyone who works in the aviation industry or even for travelers who will be exposed to plane noise, it is necessary to protect your ears since once nerve damage is inflicted on the cochlea or the small organ that is responsible for hearing, those nerves can never be replaced or healed.
2. Know the Difference Between Human and Aviation Noise
The difference between human speech and the noise that results from the roaring engine of an aircraft is its intensity and frequency. According to the National Ag Safety Database, intensity refers to the loudness of noise or the pressure that it exerts on the ear. Frequency, on the other hand, refers to the number of sound waves that are produced from a source per second. The higher the number of waves produced, the higher the frequency. Intensity is measured in decibels (dB) and frequency is measured in hertz (Hz). It doesn't take much of an imagination to think about the alarming difference between the intensity of two people carrying on a conversation next to your table at a restaurant to the intensity of the screech from a commercial jet?s tires landing onto the runway. The most dangerous sounds are those that are high in intensity and high in frequency. These are the kinds of sounds that are often heard by people working in the aviation industry. Since ear damage can't be reversed, prevention is a necessity.
3. Wear Ear Plugs
One of the simplest ways to avoid ear damage is to wear ear plugs. They are as inexpensive as they are easy to use. Most aviation hearing protective earplugs reduce the amount of noise you hear by 15 to 20 dB. Airplanes can be pretty loud. A typical commercial jet produces sound energy at 130 dB or more. In comparison, carrying a conversation with someone across from you produces about 60 dB in sound energy. Therefore the sounds that pilots, flight and ground crews are exposed to can cause hearing damage even after being exposed to the noise for less than a half of a minute. With earplugs, a pilot?s ears will instead be exposed to 110 or 115 dB of noise. Earplugs obviously don't tune out all noise. These spongy and foam devices still allow for a significant amount of sound to pass through.
4. Don a Noise-attenuating Headset
According to "Flight Training Magazine," pilots are exposed to 80 to 95 dB of sound. This figure may more or less depending upon the size of the engine plane and upon the level of sound insulation that might protect against excess noise pollution. The Noise-Attenuating Headset is an important piece of equipment that helps to reduce noise by about 20 to 25 dB. Just like headphones, the insulated cups rest on your ears and work by providing a seal around the ear, which does a great job at barricading noise from creeping in. This device also comes with a hands-free communication so that traffic controllers and pilots can communicate by voice through a small mounted microphone.
5. Invest in Active Noise Reduction
Active Noise Reduction headsets are one step above the Noise-Attenuating Headset. In addition to providing an insulated seal around the ear, they are also able to block out noise entirely through the use of a counter-wave. They are often issued by the airline company for the pilot to use routinely. It is a valuable tool for canceling out noise and protecting the health of the ear.
