Always involve your workers in the selection process and offer a reasonable choice from a range of types. Where necessary, obtain professional advice when selecting.

AS/NZS 1269.3:2005 Occupational noise management – Hearing protector program recommends the class testing method is used in most circumstances

Suppliers of hearing protectors should provide the full information on the attenuation likely to be provided including the SLC80 ratings, class and octave band attenuation values derived from attenuation measurements made in accordance with AS/NZS 1270:2002 Acoustics – hearing protectors.

Class 5 hearing protectiondB

Personal hearing protectors must be regularly inspected and maintained to ensure they remain in good, clean condition. The inspections should check that:

This is the world’s largest and longest roundabout – the Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah. It was completed in 1999, its diameter is 3.5km and it surrounds three major landmarks

With five roundabouts grouped into one massive roundabout drivers have to make the right lane selection otherwise they end up facing in the wrong direction.

The class of hearing protection is determined by a testing regime prescribed by AS/NZS 1270:2002 Acoustics – Hearing protectors and is marked on the packaging of the device.

Workers and other persons, including managers and visitors, should never enter these areas without wearing appropriate personal hearing protectors, regardless of how short the time they stay in the hearing protector area.

China has some of the most active road construction in the world. Here are a couple of extra junctions for you to look at. The first one has an interesting asymmetrical cloverleaf arrangement whereas the second is an excellent example of a symmetrical figure-of-8 arrangement.

Class4hearing protection

The M3 (Eastlink Toll road) and M1 (Monash Freeway) come together in a bunch of sweeping off-ramps and on-ramps in Dandenong North. You can read about the history of the Monash Freeway here.

With seven lanes either side, and a multitude of junctions and adjoining streets, navigating this one kilometre stretch of road is first a question of getting into the right lane. It’s the widest avenue in the world because it spans a city block.

The primary criterion when selecting a hearing protector is that the level of noise entering the worker’s ears (the in-ear noise level) must be reduced (attenuated) to below the criteria in the exposure standard for noise (Clause 56 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2017), which are:

It contains direct offramps in all possible directions, and has high-occupancy vehicle lanes, light-rail trains and lanes for individual cars.

New York and New Jersey are full of complex junctions and roads, one of the most famous of which is the New Jersey Turnpike. It’s the sixth busiest toll road in the USA, and where the Turnpike splits into the Eastern and Western Spur at Newark is a mass of cloverleaf ramps. It’s just up the road from our next junction.

Class 5 hearing protectionbunnings

Areas where people may be exposed to hazardous noise should be sign-posted as hearing protector areas and the boundaries of these areas should be clearly defined.

Just across the ditch, the intersection of the Northern (SH1), Northwestern (SH16) and Southern Motorways (SH1) in Auckland is a complex affair, not least because if you pick the wrong exit you might end up on the Harbour Bridge going north when you really meant to go south. It’s also a major bottleneck carrying well over 200,000 vehicles per day that will be alleviated by the Western Ring Route in 2017.

Class 5 hearing protectionAustralia

It was designed in the 1960s with most of its links built in the 1970s, in the process removing whole suburbs – a total of 15,000 houses and 50,000 people moved away forcing the closure of two schools and the decline of trade in the inner city for years. The final sections were opened in 2006, connecting the Northwestern Motorway eastbound (SH16) to the Northern Motorway northbound (SH1) over the Harbour Bridge.

Always involve your workers in the hearing PPE selection process and offer a reasonable choice from a range of types. Where necessary, obtain professional advice when selecting.

The following 12 junctions are some of the most complex to drive anywhere in the world. Make sure you know your intersection rules before trying to drive through them. Let’s start with our four best ones in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne

Then, based on the workplace noise exposure levels and the target in-ear noise exposure level, the workplace assessment will determine what level of hearing protection will correctly reduce (attenuate) the noise intensity received in a worker’s ear.

Suppliers of hearing protectors should provide the full information on the attenuation (reduction in noise intensity) likely to be provided including the SLC80 ratings, class and octave band attenuation values. The attenuation values should be derived from attenuation measurements made in accordance with AS/NZS 1270 Acoustics – hearing protectors.

Class4 vsClass 5 hearing protection

They provide no protection at all – in fact, they actually add to the level of outside noise and contribute to damaging a person’s hearing.

Once the hearing protection level has been determined by the workplace noise assessment, you need to provide a suitable range of hearing PPE for your workers to choose from, so they can select the type that suits them best.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) – including hearing PPE – is the least effective control in the hierarchy of controls because it:

Class 5 hearing protectionwith Bluetooth

You should set a target in-ear noise exposure level for your workers that is below the exposure standard for noise, eg: 80 dB(A). An in-ear noise level is the noise level received in a person’s ear when using hearing PPE.

Suppliers of hearing protectors should provide the full information on the attenuation likely to be provided including the SLC80 ratings, class and octave band attenuation values. The attenuation values should be derived from attenuation measurements made in accordance with AS/NZS 1270 Acoustics – hearing protectors.

Providing or using hearing PPE measured by the Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) system is not acceptable in Australia. The NRR system is used in the USA but can’t be used in Australia because the method of testing is different from that required by AS/NZS 1270:2001.

3mClass 5 hearing protection

But it’s important to know that providing hearing PPE that over-protects a worker (ie: the hearing PPE is rated higher than the protection level determined by the workplace noise assessment) cuts out too much sound and may cause workers to experience disadvantages, such as:

Where sign-posting is not practicable, you should make other arrangements to ensure that workers and others know when personal hearing protectors are required.

For information on the SLC80 (Sound Level Conversion valid for 80% of the wearers) measuring method, refer to the Managing noise and preventing hearing loss at work Code of Practice.

Class3hearing protection

Personal hearing protectors should be selected and maintained in accordance with AS/NZS 1269.3:2005 Occupational noise management – hearing protector program.

It was constructed in 1972. The five roundabouts effectively form two concentric circles, the innermost travelling anticlockwise around the centre, and the outermost travelling clockwise.

To identify what class of hearing protection, you only need the 8-hour average value to which the worker is exposed in dB(A).and then refer to Table 4 in the Managing noise and preventing hearing loss at work Code of Practice, which details the five classes of hearing PPE:

This is a stack interchange up to five levels tall that joins I-110 and I-105 in LA. When you’re on it, there’s a swirling mass of concrete that surrounds you. Opened in 1993 it’s named after the judge that presided over the lawsuit concerning the construction of I-105.

Australia doesn’t have a huge number of complex junctions like the UK or USA, but one of our best is the M4 and M7 junction which, for added complexity, has to negotiate Wallgrove Rd running parallel with the M7. Ironically it’s right next to Eastern Creek, Sydney’s motorsport park.

This junction joins the M6 with the A38 and is often named as one of the most intimidating junctions to drive. It was opened in 1972 and rises to a height of 24.5 metres. It is, in places, five levels high and the construction includes 559 concrete columns.

Let’s hope you’re not late for your flight because the Newark Airport interchange on the Turnpike is one of the most daunting sections of road to drive on when you’re in a hurry.

These two roads are separated by a bridge across Lake Burley Griffin. State Circle surrounds Capital Hill, while the London Circuit surrounds City Hill.

In order to get the full protection of hearing PPE workers must wear their PPE AT ALL TIMES whenever they are exposed to hazardous noise during their work shift.

If the hearing PPE is removed, even for a short time, the protection provided to the worker will be substantially reduced.