Hearing protectors must be selected to eliminate or reduce the risk of hearing damage by noise to a minimum. Selected protectors should reduce the noise level behind the hearing protector (on the tympanic membrane) below the permissible level of action given by national legislation. The choice of hearing protectors is to be attended directly by the employee, since the effectiveness of the protectors depends primarily on whether they are used correctly and permanently. Therefore, it is important to take into account subjective considerations, such as comfort or discomfort, as this can reduce the length of time that hearing protectors are actually worn.
There are many types of hearing protectors. They can be divided into ear plugs, ear muffs and acoustic (anti-noise) helmets. They are functionally divided into passive and non-passive.
