Work in the Entertainment Industry? Consider Hearing Protection

It’s summer festival season! From open-air concerts to block parties to weekend festivals, everyone is out to have a good time. It is also the best time of the year to work for some. Whether you’re a music photographer, sound engineer or festival bartender, this is certainly a busy time!

Unfortunately, if you work in the entertainment or service industry, exposure to loud noise is a serious occupational hazard – and can lead to hearing loss. If you do not take proper precautions, the loud noises associated with such events can damage your ears. In fact, as many as 50% of people attending a music festival experience tinnitus.

The majority of rock shows range from 110 dB to 120 db. Sustained noise exposure up to 85dB can cause lasting damage to your hearing.

After age-related hearing loss, loud noise exposure is the second biggest cause of hearing loss. Loud sounds actually create vibrations in hair cells that are so strong that they have the potential to damage your hearing permanently. Permanent damage to the small cells in the ears reduces the ability of those cells to convert sound into signals to be read by the brain. These damaged hair cells are not replaceable, which means they can’t create the sound signals to the brain, resulting in hearing loss.

So, what can you do to prevent tinnitus and hearing loss this festival season? Should you consider switching careers?  There is one way you can protect yourself this summer while you work the festivals – use earplugs or other hearing protection.

Some people might see earplugs as something you wear if your partner snores or if you want to sleep on a long flight. But these little earbuds could mean the difference between climbing into bed for a quiet night’s sleep after a hard day’s work, and a night of eternal ringing in the ears.

Earplugs help entertainment professionals in two ways:

Most people believe that ear plugs are a way of blocking the maximum amount of sound. But earplugs block sound in a more nuanced way than you would think. If you work in sound engineering or as on-stage sound technician, there are earplugs designed to lower the sound level of 10-30 dB without any muffling or distortion. Some even let you modify the level of isolation in order to use it for any show you work, from the small acoustic show to a cacophonous 6-piece metal band.

Musical earplugs can actually improve your listening experience. It helps you hear the detail of the music better, because the overall sound is reduced.  You actually hear what the musicians play much more accurately, which will help you to perform better on the job.

Some people worry that wearing earplugs will make them unable to hear other people talking, reducing their ability to communicate with their co-workers. On the contrary, good ear plugs can make it easier to speak again. Simply shouting in someone’s ear doesn’t make it more likely that they will understand you, and vice versa. You will probably have an easier time hearing them by lowering the volume.

A recent study in Holland study assessed the effect noise had on an audience of 51 participants at an outdoor music event that lasted almost five hours. Although the noise was around 100 decibels across the whole concert, people who wore earplugs had five-fold decrease in temporary hearing loss, compared to those who wore none. The use of earplugs, on average, led to an 8% decline in hearing, compared to about 42% if people didn’t wear them. They were also effective in protecting against tinnitus. Only 12% of those with earplugs suffered from tinnitus when compared with 40% without earplugs.

So, to protect your hearing and work better this summer, why not put a pair of earplugs in your bag alongside your all-access wristband?

If you’re looking for industrial-quality custom molded earplugs to protect you this summer, we can help you out.  We supply a wide range of hearing protection solutions for any job you could think of. Contact us today to see how we can help protect your hearing this festival season.

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