Australasian Mine Safety is the leading voice for all key decision makers within Mining company's and major contractors. Delivering the latest industry news as it breaks.
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HEARING PROTECTION MEASURE, PREVENT, MANAGE AND COMMUNICATE WITH HOWARD LEIGHT BY HONEYWELL Safe Work Australia’s 2010 Statistics indicate that hearing loss still ranks very high in the national health priorities, even above cardiovascular disease or occupational cancers. One in six Australians suffer some degree of hearing loss and it becomes clear that occupational hearing loss represents a significant social and economic burden for Australia. A case of Occupational Noise Induced Hearing Loss can mean higher workers’ compensation insurance premiums and also litigation to the business involved. There are also other costs, such as lower productivity, higher rate of absent employees, employee turnover, and higher accident rates. Last but by far not the least price to pay, is the change of quality in life for affected individuals and the effect it has on their families. Bearing all this in mind, intelligent hearing technology has been a serious focus for Honeywell. As a result, hearing loss in the workplace can now not be just more easily prevented or managed, but also in a much more educated and professional manner than ever before. With a hi-tech Howard Leight product range, including VeriPro, QuietDose and QPi, employers now have ‘real world’ reliable and practical tools to take responsibility for protecting the health of their workers hearing. Having access to such products will equip wearers of hearing protection with an insight that should sustain also into off-the-job behaviourisms. It is up to both, employers and workers to take appropriate measures – at work and off-the-job. VeriPro – This Howard Leight testing technology provides earplug attenuation level testing in the workplace, combined with individual training and record keeping. It works with any earplug and presents results in minutes. VeriPRO benefits both, safety managers and employees alike. For the safety manager, it fulfills requirements for training with documented results. For employees, VeriPRO demonstrates the importance of hearing protection in the workplace, 82 AUSTRALASIAN MINE SAFETY JOURNAL and helps employees select and compare protectors to find the best choice for their ears and specific applications. QuietDose – When it comes to wear-time, this new technology can provide the answers. QuietDose by Howard Leight conducts dosimetry with a microphone located on the inside of the earplug or earmuff. This provides an insight into what the worker is doing with their hearing protection as it measures and records the actual accumulated noise dose received over a shift, whether the hearing protection is being worn or not. It also alerts when the critical level is reached. This is a new approach that provides powerful, precise, real-time information to make intelligent safety decisions. Employers can deploy workers more efficiently and identify areas where workers may be under protected. It also provides a simpler and often more cost effective solution to complicated built-in engineering controls. QPi – When people are regularly exposed to noise like industrial noise, special care and precautions must be taken. The human ear was not designed to endure noisy environments on a long-term basis day in, day out, but in a lot of workplaces extreme noise exposure is difficult to avoid. Especially in situations where communication is a necessity, this can be a real problem. As the human voice is drowned in noisy environments, only a radio transmission system that is able to send and receive clear speech communication whilst offering appropriate hearing protection, will work. QPi™ is a unique communication earplug headset and high level hearing protector all in one. It improves situation awareness in noisy environments as well as providing adequate protection. It can be connected to a radio source or intercom system and is compatible as a hearing protector with all ground, vehicle and aviation helmets and other PPE, including SCBA. QPi™ is ideal for use in harsh and dangerous environments. When it comes to hearing, and more importantly hearing protection, there are now as many answers as there are questions. Workplace hearing loss is preventable! Sperian is now Honeywell. About Sperian Protection A world reference in personal protection equipment (PPE), Sperian Protection serves the global market providing hearing, eye, respiratory and fall protection, protective gloves, clothing and safety footwear. An historical expert in the PPE industry for more than 50 years, Sperian Protection is committed to offering innovative products adapted to high-risk environments so that workers in the manufacturing and services industries can work with confidence. For more information on Sperian Protection, please visit www.sperian.com About Honeywell Honeywell International (www.honeywell. com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell’s shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com. This release contains certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that we or our management intends, expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. The forward- looking statements included in this release are also subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental, and technological factors affecting our operations, markets, products, services and prices. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ from those envisaged by such forward-looking statements.