If Your Ears Are Ringing, You Already Took A Hit

Hearing loss is permanent but preventable, and we stop treating ringing ears like a normal part of low voltage work. We map out where the noise really comes from, how leaders should plan for hearing protection, and what to wear so you can keep doing the job and still hear life after work. 
• ringing ears as a warning sign of injury 
• noise sources in structured cabling and low voltage work plus other trades nearby 
• why hearing matters for situational awareness, crew safety, and communication 
• leadership responsibilities for planning PPE like any other job requirement 
• earmuffs, disposable foam plugs, reusable rubber plugs and where each fits 
• fit and compatibility issues with glasses, hard hats, hoodies, and worn seals 
• foam plug basics using roll, pull, hold and common mistakes 
• communication plans so workers do not remove protection to talk 
• OSHA 29 CFR 1926.52 and 29 CFR 1910.95 practical expectations 
• ANSI guidance and the risk of over-protection that blocks warnings 
• BICSI best practices and a 10-point hearing protection checklist 
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Transcript

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Welcome And Listener Support

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey water monkeys, welcome to another episode of Let's Talk Cabling. This week we're talking about hearing protection. Welcome to the show where we tackle the tough questions submitted by apprentices, installers, technicians, project foremen, project managers, estimators, designers, customers, even IT personnel. We're connecting at the human level so that we can connect the world. If you're watching this show on YouTube, would you mind hitting the subscribe button and the bell button so you get notified when new content is being produced? If you're listening to us on one of the audio podcast platforms, if you haven't done it yet, would you go ahead and hit and give us a five-star rating? And if we're not a five-star rating show, email me so I can figure out what we need to do to make this a five-star show. Wednesday night, 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, what are you doing? You know I do a live stream on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, everywhere I can figure out where to send a stream, where you get to ask your favorite RCDD. And you know that's me. Your favorite RCDD questions on installation, design, certification, credentialing, project management, estimation. I even do career path questions. But I can hear you now. But check them, drive my drunk, I watch my knocking, kick me up. I don't want to get into an action. Relax. Breathe in. Breathe out. I record those shows and you can listen to them or watch them at your own convenience. And finally, while this show is free and will always remain free, would you click on that QR code right there? You can buy me a cup of coffee. You can schedule a 15-minute one-on-one call with me. After hours, of course. You can even buy Let's Talk Cabling merchandise. Now, before we get into the show, let me say something really quick. I don't do this very often. We were going over the finances of the podcast, and the podcast has a certain dollar value that we gotta bring in every month in order to break even with the podcast. We're not doing it. So if you haven't already considered joining Patreon to help support this program, would you please do so? That way we can keep this podcast going, educating, encouraging, and enriching the lives of people in the ICT industry. So,

Why Hearing Loss Sneaks Up

SPEAKER_00 2:45

like I said, this week we're talking about hearing protection. Oh yeah, I can I can see the eye rolls now. Oh my gosh, we're talking about safety, but you know what? This is going to be good for you, the installer, the foreman, the project manager, the estimators, even the safety officers. Because hearing loss is permanent, but it's preventable. And way too often it's ignored in low voltage work because we don't really consider it a threat in the low voltage industry. But let me ask you a serious question. Have you ever left a job site where your ears were ringing? See, we don't always get to work in existing office spaces, law firms, and places like that. Quite often we are working on new construction sites where there's people who are drilling in anchors into the concrete. They're shooting their powder actuated tools, right? The job site radio's blaring. Or you might have somebody drilling into a core hole, into a concrete. Literally just feet away from what you're doing. And quite often we're working with other vendors like the fire alarm vendors and the paging vendors who are testing their systems. So there might be horns blaring while you're trying to dress in your cable in the horizontal cross connect. Or here you go, maybe somebody fired up a powder actuated tool, and when they when they did, your soul briefly checked out of the building. We've all been there. You know, you're supposed to yell fire in the hole, but they don't always do that. That ringing sound is not your body saying, Good job, warrior, good job. No, it means your hearing took a hit. You suffered an injury. Here's the ugly truth. Hearing loss is one of the most common injuries in the construction industry. But it does not always show up like a fall does, or a cut, or a broken bone. Hey, tell me in the chat box below, have you ever gotten a cut on a job site and you didn't know it until the blood was dripping everywhere? Or is it just me? You don't usually feel the pain when it comes to ear injuries, and nobody wraps your ears in a cast or tells you, well, stay home for six weeks. It happens quietly. And which is ironic because the damage comes from noise. So today we're talking about hearing protection for the low voltage people, not in some boring safety poster way. We're going to talk about why it matters, where low voltage installers are exposed to the dangerous noise, and what are the three major types of hearing protection? And what does OSHA, ANSI, or Bixie bring to this conversation? And this is not just for the person pulling cable, this is also for the project managers, also for the project foreman, maybe even the estimators and the owners, people who are managing people. Because if your team is exposed to noise and your plan is, eh, they'll figure it out. That's not a plan. That's a future incident report, wearing a hard hat. And we all know it's better to be proactive than reactive when it comes to safety. So let's get into why hearing protection matters. As I mentioned before, hearing loss is different from a lot of other job site type of injuries. Again, when you cut your hand, you typically know it. You feel the pain immediately, the blood's everywhere. If you fall off the ladder, you know it immediately. If you get shocked, you definitely know that one. And so does everybody standing around you pretending that they were about to help you. But hearing damage can happen gradually. You may not even notice it at first. In fact, you probably won't even notice it at first. And you may leave the site with that ringing in your ears, thinking, ah, it'll go away. Maybe it does. This time. But what about next time? And what about the building of the injuries over a period of time? See, repeated exposure adds up. It's not like you know, you go home with ears ringing today and then you're fine tomorrow. It adds up. One day you're fine, and then years later, you're asking people to repeat themselves. You're turning the TV up so loud that everybody in the room is looking at you like, is this guy deaf? Are you missing conversations in noisy restaurants? Ding, ding, ding. That's me. Are you nodding along in meetings, even though you're only hearing about, oh, I don't know, every second or third word? That's not just annoying. That affects your career. That affects your safety. And it affects the way that you communicate. And let's be honest, it also affects the quality of your life. So for field personnel, hearing is part of your situational awareness. When you hear equipment backing up, you hear the dee, dee, deet, or somebody yells, hey, heads up, which by the way, you never look up. You hear the ladder shift, right? You see things moving. You hear a coworker call your name. Hey Jock, watch out. For project managers and foremen, hearing is part of crew safety and productivity. Communication breaks down when people cannot hear the instructions. They can't hear the warnings. They can't understand the radio because you're trying to tell you whether it's a pool or not. Or communication with other trades. Noise-induced injury loss is usually permanent. Unlike that cut on your hand, which will heal up. Hearing injury doesn't. Let me say that again because it matters. Permanent. Okay? You know, we all know you can replace a drill bit. We all know that you can replace a cable certifier, though your boss is going to be kind of mad. You can replace a bad patch cord. You cannot order a new set of factory original ears from Grey Bar or Annexter if that's your choice. At least not yet anyway. And if you ever try to do carry them, they'll probably be on back order. Because that's just the way our life seems to go sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Let's take a short break. Are you trying to reach the technicians, project managers, and decision makers of the ICT industry? Then why aren't you advertising on Let's Talk Cabling? With over 150,000 impressions a month across podcasts, YouTube, and social media, this isn't just a show. It's the go-to resource for the low voltage industry. We spotlight the tools, training, and technology shaping the future of structured cabling, and your brand could be front and center. Don't just get noticed, get trusted. Email Chuck at advertising at let's talkcabling.com and let's connect your brand to the right audience today.

Noise Exposure In Low Voltage Work

SPEAKER_00 9:38

So I already know what some people are thinking. Chuck, I'm in low voltage. I'm not running a jackhammer all day. I pull cable, I terminate cable, I test cable. Right? I'm not dealing with loud noise environments. Fair, you may not be doing the noise, but low voltage industry workers, limited energy workers, are exposed to noise in two different ways. Think about common low voltage tasks. How many times have you hammer drilled into concrete to set anchors for a rack? That's noise. Drilling overhead to install j hooks or cable tray or unistrut. That's noise. Cutting ladder rack or wire basket tray. Cutting threaded rod or strut, or maybe even conduit. You might even be cord drilling or working near core drilling, because a lot of times we will subcontract cord drilling to somebody else while you're working in the same area. A lot of technicians now are starting to use impact drivers and saws and grinders or vacuum systems, especially the vacuum systems, because they use them to suck up all that dust from they drill the hole in the concrete floor, which has a really high pitch to it. You might be working in a mechanical room, you know, where it's got that constant hum going on. You might be working in in or near generator or generator rooms. And for you lucky people who get to work in data centers, right? Guess what? They got a lot of high volume cooling equipment, and that creates noise. You might get asked to help the if you if you're doing fire alarms, you might be get asked to help testing the horns and the strobes and the speakers. That can cause they're not those aren't designed for continuous occupation of the area. They're just to warn people to get out. How about working near paging systems or sound masking systems or AV testing? Those are all potential areas where you, as a limited energy person or a low voltage person, and that's where you can get injured if you're not wearing ear protection. And then there's the noise made by other people on the job site. Again, most of the time, well not most of the time, a lot of the time, we're working on construction sites. Next time I'm on a construction site, I'm going to take my phone and just literally record the sound. It is not a quiet environment. It just truly is not. You might be above the ceiling while another trade is cutting the metal studs. You might be in the corridor while the while the concrete crew is drilling something. You might be in the electrical room when the electricians are bending the conduit with the hydraulic benders. You might be even in a renovation area during demolition, it's happening just on the other side of the wall. You may be on a job site where maybe even where steel workers are beating red iron like it owes them some money. These are all kinds of noises that you can hear on a job site. But the key point is this. You do not have to be the person making the noise to be harmed by it. I'm gonna say that again. The key point is you don't need to be the person making the noise to be harmed by that same noise. Your ears do not care who created that sound, or they don't care about where it came from. They only care about the exposure. The exposure.

Leadership And Planning For PPE

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Hey, let's talk about why you're why as a project manager, why is a project foreman, why as a supervisor, why should you care? Because this is where leadership matters. You have to have buy-in from the top. If you aren't taking this as a threat to a potential injury, your technician, your installer, your apprentice probably isn't either. You have to lead by example. You see, unfortunately, a lot of field people don't think about hearing protection as personal protection, but yet it is. For the project manager, it is planning. For the project foreman, it is execution. For the business owner, it is culture, company culture, and liability. So this is important to everybody from the person who writes the checks to the person who sweeps the floor at the end of the day. This is critical to everybody involved. If your crew is going into a noisy environment and your preparation is, ah, there should be some earplugs here somewhere, that's weak. You really need to be better. See, the funny thing is, is we plan what kind of cable to install. We plan what kind of pathways to install, we plan when to order the materials, when the materials are going to arrive. We even plan our labor, what kind of people to have on job site, and we also plan for all the other things like lifts or cutovers. So since we're doing all this planning, why not plan for hearing protection? When you review the project, ask, hey, are we going to be drilling into any concrete? Are is there going to be any work nearby doing demolition? Are we going to be installing the horizontal cross connect in the mechanical room? Are the fire alarm guys going to be doing any testing while we're on site? Will my crews be working in occupied industrial areas? I've done that a lot, you know, a lot of manufacturing facilities. Will other trades be creating high noise nearby? Will the hearing protection interfere with the radio operations? Will it interfere with communications? Does the crew know what type of protection to use? And here is the leadership line. If the hazard is foreseeable, the protection should be planned. Not wished for, not assumed, it should be planned. And it is your responsibility as a supervisor, a manager, or a business owner to step up so your field personnel have the PPE, including earring protection, that they need. And don't let's not forget your field personnel. You have a role in this too. If you know you're about ready to hammer drill something in the morning, maybe say something. If your project manager did not count for it, bring it up. If you're working beside a demo crew and your ears are are ringing, stop pretending that it's fine. It's not. Your hearing is part of your career. And you need it for your job. You need to be able to communicate. We work in the communications industry. If you can't hear, you can't communicate. But let's be honest. It's also important because you need it for your family. You need it for everything that you want to enjoy after you do your job. And for the project managers who are listening, your people are not consumables. Treat them like professionals and give them what they need to work safely.

Earmuffs Versus Earplugs

SPEAKER_00 16:46

So let's get into the three major types of hearing protection. First one, oral protection. Usually you see this as the earmuff style protection. Another one, probably up you see this more often than not, foam earplugs. They're the disposable kind. You see them on the on the construction sites, they always have lots of them. And then there's the rubber earplugs, which are reusable. You see, each one of those three types has its place on the job site, has its place in the safety program. Each one of it has its strengths. Each one of those types also has its limitations. The wrong kind of protection, worn incorrectly, gives that that ICT professional the false sense of safety. And that false sense of safety is dangerous because it looks responsible from 25 feet away, but then it's not. The first type, oral protection. In the field, most people think of this as the earmuff style protection. These are the kind that fit over your eel and it creates a seal around your ears. There are passive earmuffs and active electronic earmuffs. The passive earmuffs, they just deaden the sound. The active, they deaden the sound, but they still allow you to communicate via Bluetooth through certain devices. But with the passive earmuffs, it's critical that you get that good seal. And you'll know when you put them on because the sound level will drop dramatically. The active models, well, what they can do is they can still allow you to have regular conversation while still automatically reducing the louder impulse sounds. And these can be useful to workers when they need to communicate. Hey, start pulling the cable, quit pulling the cable, right? But are also exposed to sudden loud noises. So earmouth style protection, they can be a great choice if you're working in an environment where there's a lot of hammer drilling. You know, you or even somebody else. They're also a good choice for short duration loud tasks, generator rooms, mechanical spaces, firearm testing support. Any worker who cannot comfortably wear earplugs, this type of ear protection is going to be a good choice for them for safety. But let's not forget about the visitors. Because sometimes the customer comes visit the job site, or the project manager comes by once a week walking on a noisy job site. It could be for them as well. The earmuffs are also good for the areas on the job site where you need to quickly put on ear protection or remove ear protection. The advantage of using this type of earplug system is simplicity. You just put them on. Heck, there are even hard hats that have the earmuffs that you can attach to them. All you gotta do is just pop them off, pop them on. They're easy to remove. They're also easy for the supervisor to visually verify that you are indeed following safety protocols and keeping your ears protected because that matters. If you're gonna be doing a walkthrough on a job site with a group of visitors, earmuffs are going to be easier than trying to teach eight people how to insert a foam plug into their ear in the hallway while the GC stares at you because you're holding up the tour or you're you're you're stopping other vendors, other trades from doing their work. But there are some limitations. Again, I mentioned just a few seconds ago, earmuffs only work when you get that complete seal. You'll know you literally will hear the sound drop. I don't know how many decibels it drops, but it drops a lot. But if you're wearing, I mentioned the ones attached to the hard hat, sometimes they don't seal right. If you're wearing safety glasses, you don't want the glasses tucked up underneath the earmuffs because that breaks that seal. Hair, well, not that I have to worry about that, but the hair can absolutely interfere with that seal as well. During the wintertime, if you're wearing hoodies or wearing hats or you know, anything like that, that can interfere with it. Damaged cushions reduce the protection. So if you if you're not getting that seal, you know what you when you put it on for months at a time, you know what that sounds like. You know what it feels like. If it doesn't feel like it's protecting you anymore, maybe it's time to replace those. But here's here's a common feel problem. Wearing the earmuffs around your neck. We've all seen it. We've all seen people walk around with the earmuffs around their neck. Well, guess what? It's not protecting your hearing when it's around your neck. Sure, it's protecting your collarbone, but your collarbone is not the part of the body that we're worried about and we're trying to protect with these earmuffs. You know, if you're a project manager, if you're a project foreman or a supervisor, it's your responsibility to check compatibility. If the crew is wearing their hard hats, their glasses, and their face shields, and all the other PPE that they have, make sure that their hearing protection works with the rest of the PPE. Maybe get all the pieces of equipment that you're asking your crew to work with to wear and then put it on yourself and verify that it does work right. A piece of PPE that fights other PPE usually ends up not being. Used. Again, if you can't put it on correctly because of you know your safety glasses, one of those isn't going to get warm. Safety glasses or hearing. And most technicians unfortunately feel, well, I don't want my eyes getting hurt, so let's let's go ahead and uh skip the ear PPE. Any unused PPE is just safety decoration. That's all it really is. Let's talk about the foam ear plugs. These are the disposable roll-down plugs, and they're common because they're inexpensive. They're lightweight, and they're easy to stock. You'll see on most construction sites the GC usually has a huge stack of them. But the foam plugs only work if they are inserted correctly. And I'll be honest with you, this is the one that I still struggle with to this day. It's the part that people mess up. And these foam earplugs, they're really useful for the general construction noise, the longer duration exposure. You can even use it to protect against hammer drills and working around other noisy trades, and maybe even working in that mechanical space. Any jobs where the earmuffs are going to interfere with hard hats or other PPE, then maybe you might want to choose the foam. Keeping extra protection available in a gang box or in the truck or the site office is always a good thing. Remember this when it comes to PPE. Two is one, one is none. It's better to have safety equipment and not need it than need safety equipment and not have it. So how do you use this? So here's the basic methods three steps. Roll, pull, and hold. You're gonna roll the plug tightly between clean fingers. Clean fingers, okay? Pull the top of the ear up and back to straighten up the ear canal, insert the plug in and hold it in place while it expands. It's gonna feel a little uncomfortable, but that last step matters. Again, you got to get that complete seal. If you just shove it in halfway in and you just let it kind of hang out, you're not getting proper ear protection. And it's funny because that foam earplug sticking out of your ear like a tiny little orange traffic cone, it's not doing its job. And all the other guys on this job site are laughing at you. So common mistakes installing this type of hearing protection is not rolling the plug tightly enough. If you don't get it small enough, you're not gonna fit in your ear canal. Not inserting it in deep enough. This let's be honest, this is a tough one because you don't want to still shove stuff up in your ear. But it's got to be in there enough so it actually works. Don't don't use dirty hands. So put them in at the beginning of the day. Or if you're gonna put it in the middle of the day, wash your hands. You know, also don't reuse disposable plugs. Just don't do it. They're cheap. That's one of the reasons for using them. Another issue that you run into is removing and reinserting contaminated plugs. If you have to take them out, go get another pair. Or here's I've seen this done on more than one occasion. Somebody only puts in one. Well, they're shooting over here to my right, so I'm gonna put it in my right ear. Yeah. Or pulling them out when somebody's talking to you. Okay, that's that's gonna be an important one. You want to keep them in. If workers have to constantly remove their hearing protection to communicate, the job needs a better communications plan. Plain and simple. Plain and simple. That could mean stepping away from the noise. Maybe even using hand signals. That can mean stepping away from the noise, or maybe using hand signals, or using radios designed for that type of environment. Pro tip for my project managers and my supervisors. Don't assume that everybody knows how to use the foam earplugs. Show them how to use it. It's only gonna take one 30-second demonstration, and that can help prevent years of hearing damage. So stock more than you think. Again, have it's better to have it and not need it. The foam plugs are disposable, but if the box is empty, the policy is empty too. Now let's

Fit, Training, And Communication

SPEAKER_00 25:58

talk about the reusable rubber earplugs. These are often flange plugs, and some are corded. Some come in small carrying cases, and some are even designed for repeated use throughout the day. Again, these are gonna be really good types of hearing protection for the service technician. But somebody's not always on a noisy and noisy construction site. The project manager walking the job site, but it's again, they're only on it once a day, once a week or something like that. The project foreman moving between noisy areas and quiet areas. Workers who need frequent protection on and off. These are great for short duration, noisy tasks. People who don't like phone plugs, this is a great option for you. And crews who work in changing noise environments, this is another great one for you. The advantage here is for the for the crews on the site is they are convenient. You can keep them in a case, you can attach them to your hard hat, or even carry them in a pocket. You can even clean them and reuse them. So for project managers and for service techs, this is a big deal. You might not know it when you walk into a loud area, but having reusable plugs is always better than standing there thinking, man, this is a little bit louder than I thought it was, and not doing anything about it. But these do also have limitations. Reusable doesn't mean forever. They do need to be clean, they do need to be stored properly, so don't throw them up on the dash of your of your work van, especially if you're in Florida, because that UV light will damage them. They need to be replaced when they're worn, they need to be replaced when they're cracked, they need to be replaced when they're stiff, dirty, or even damaged. So a reusable earplug covered in pocket lint or maybe covered in drywall dust or whatever lies at the bottom of your tool bag is not professional. That's a biological experiment with a cord. Oh, but speaking of the cord, if a corded plug is used on a construction site, the cord should be a breakaway type, so if there's a snag, or especially if there's a strangulation risk, this matters around ladders and lifts and rotating equipment and also working in those tight spaces. Protection should not create a new hazard, and this applies to all types of PPE. So which one should you use? The best answer has four considerations. Number one, it depends on the task. What are you actually doing? Are you doing something noisy or are you doing something a little bit quieter? It depends on the exposure. Is it a short duration or a long duration? It depends on the environment. It also depends on the worker. Use earmuffs when you need easy on and easy off protection, or when plugs are just not practical. Use foam plugs when you need a lightweight protection for longer exposure and for workers who can insert them correctly. Because you know, wearing the ear muffs, they can get kind of heavy after a period of time. Just remember this hearing protection is not a one size fit-all kind of thing. The best hearing protection is the one that is chosen for the appropriate noise level, it's properly fitted, it works with all the other PPE like I mentioned earlier, and it's available when it's needed. And it's not going to be worth anything if you don't have it when you need it. So make sure that it's comfortable enough so that you are actually going to wear it, so that your crew is actually going to wear it. And make sure that you give your crews training on how to use this stuff. I know it seems kind of simple, but Chuck, it's just earplugs, it's just phone plugs. I get it. I get it. But don't assume that they know just because you know. Project managers, this is where procurement decisions really matter. Do not just go out and buy the cheapest option and then call that leadership. Cheap PPE that nobody wears is going to be expensive in the long run because it's not doing what it's supposed to be

OSHA, ANSI, BICSI Basics

SPEAKER_00 30:07

doing. So, what does the safety regulations and the standard organizations have to say about this? Well, first let's start off on start talking with OSHA. OSHA is the regulatory side, and this is where the requirement becomes enforceable. For construction, OSHA addresses occupational noise under 29 CFR 1926.52. Homework assignment. Go read it. But the general idea is this when workers are exposed to sound levels above the OSHA limits, which are in that document, employers must protect them. OSHA expects feasible engineering or administrative controls where practical, and where those controls do not reduce exposure enough, then hearing protection must be used and must be provided. There's also some verbiage in OSHA's general industry standard, 29 CFR 1910.95, which includes hearing conservation program requirements. So when employees are exposed at or above an eight-hour wait time weighted average of 85 DBA. Now I am not your attorney, and this is not a legal advice. Always verify the exact requirements for your workplace, for your project, for your authority having jurisdiction. Your general contractor may have even stiffer requirements. Your customer may even put stiffer requirements on you as well. But here's the practical field translation. OSHA expects employers to take noise seriously. This means identify that noise hazard, evaluate the exposure, use controls where it's feasible, provide proper hearing protection, train the employees, and make sure that that protection is used. And when possible required, make sure that you document, make sure you keep records. And no, a dusty box of earplugs in the trailer does not magically equal compliance. That's like saying a box of cable labels means that the project's documented. Nice try, but no. And then there's ANSI. ANSI standards are consensus standards. They're not the same thing as OSHA regulations, but they are important because they provide technical guidance used by employers, manufacturers, safety professionals, and even programs. For the construction and demolition, ANSI and ASSP have guides related to hearing loss prevention for construction and demolition workers. See the ANSI standard can help answer those technical questions like how should hearing protection performance be evaluated? How do we eliminate protected exposure? How do we select hearing protection for a given noise level? How do we avoid under protection? How do we avoid over protection? Just like our cables are UL listed, our cables are designed to the ANZ standards, so is safety equipment. People sometimes think that more protection is always better. That's not always the case. Because you have too much hearing protection, then you can't communicate. And what if somebody's trying to tell you? Heads up because they just dropped the ladder. If a worker is isolated and they cannot hear the alarm, the backup signals, or instructions, you have just traded one hazard for another. The goal is not to make workers deaf to the job site. The goal is to reduce harmful exposure while managing safe awareness and communication. And finally, let's bring Bixie into the conversation. Bixie is not OSHA. Bixie is not the AHJ. Bixie does not replace federal, state, or local or job site specific safety requirements. But Bixie training and Bixie best practices have long been recognized in our industry by installers and foremen, especially that we must work safely. And in ICT installation training, hearing protection is the treated as part of the job site safety. And the materials, again, they include the three major types that we talked about earlier. The training also warns that if the installer experience is ringing in the ears, adequate protection has not been used. That is direct. Remember, ringing equals a warning. So

Checklist And Final Reminder

SPEAKER_00 34:19

let's make this practical to the to you, the listener of the show right now. There are ten things that you should have in your checklist. One, are you carrying hearing protection with you? Number two, are you wearing it before the loud work starts? Number three, if you're using the phone plugs, are you correct using them correctly? Roll. Pull, hold. Inspect reusable plugs before you use them. Make sure that the if you're using earmuffs, you get that good seal around your ears. Make sure that you replace damage or dirty or worn protection. And do not wear ear protection only on one side and call it good. That's not protection. Do not remove protection every time somebody talks. And step away from noise if you need to have a conversation. And probably the most important one, if you start getting ringing in your ears, or you start having muffled hearing or discomfort, report it. Report it. Don't wait until your ears ring. If your ears are ringing, you're already too late. Remember, ringing is not the starting line, it's the warning light. So let's wrap this up. Let's land this plane. Hearing protection matters because hearing loss is permanent, yet it's preventable. It's easy to ignore until it's too late. We as limited energy installers or low voltage installers, we face noise from stuff that we do and from stuff other trades around us do. The three major types are oral protection, foam disposable plugs, and rubber reusable plugs. OSHA gives us regulatory requirements, ANSI gives us some technical advice on testing and approval, and Bixie reinforces safety as part of ICT professionalism. So for you, the field personnel, protect your hearing like your career depends on it, because it does. For the project managers and supervisors, plan for hearing protection just like you plan for labor and material and scheduling, because your people are not expendable. So next time someone says it's only going to take a second, remember this. Your ears don't care how long that task was supposed to take. It only cares how long that loud sound was. Protect your hearing because knowledge is power, but only if you can still hear the lesson.