Investigating Double Hearing Protection: Performance of Filtered Earplugs Paired with Headsets/Helmets
Abstract
Hearing protection and communication systems are issued to military members who are required to operate in hazardous noise environments. Double hearing protection is often required to reduce the risk of hearing loss and other hearing related disabilities. The objective of this study was to determine if filtered-type earplugs could be a viable option to replace passive foam earplugs worn in combination with a headset/helmet in order to provide protection and acceptable levels of speech intelligibility performance. Continuous and impulse noise attenuation, sound localization, and speech intelligibility measurements were conducted and analyzed for filtered-type earplugs and foam earplugs in combination with headsets/helmets commonly used by ground forces, aircraft maintainers, and aircrew. Filtered-type earplugs should be considered when additional hearing protection is required and the need to communicate.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1204488
Entities
People
- Catherine Wynn
- Christopher Hopkins
- Daniel Williams
- Hilary Gallagher
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory