Hearing protectors "real world" performance and the European Directive 2003/10/EC

The problem of hearing protection devices (HPDs) “real-world” attenuation has been topical and increasingly critical in the European Union (EU) since the implementation of the 2003/10/EC Noise Directive (EU, 2003), which requires to “... take account of the attenuation provided by the individual hearing protector worn by the worker...” to compare noise exposure to the allowable limit values. The rules proposed to assess the “real world” noise attenuation (as opposed to the declared values) vary among the European states, and include homogeneous derating of declared values, derating per HPD type, relative individual derating, and use of statistical manipulation (including multiple standard deviations from the mean) to calculate the assumed protected value (APV). This situation, where multiple and highly variable approaches are applied to attempt to address a single requirement in the same Directive, is not satisfactory. Additionally, this question has been under consideration by various North American researchers and regulators for some time. American National (ANSI) standards dealing with this issue have been published recently or are being revised. This significant experience would be useful to consider. Lessons learned in North America regarding HPD derating and attenuation management approaches could be of great value in implementation of the EU Directive.