Effect of a level-dependent hearing protector on detection thresholds, perceived urgency, and localization performance of reverse alarms
Previous studies have shown that perception of warning signals in noisy workplaces can be compromised when wearing conventional hearing protectors. Level-dependent hearing protectors have been developed to increase environmental awareness and, by extension, to improve worker safety. A set of studies...
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| Published in: | The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Vol. 140; no. 4; p. 3201 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
01-10-2016
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Previous studies have shown that perception of warning signals in noisy workplaces can be compromised when wearing conventional hearing protectors. Level-dependent hearing protectors have been developed to increase environmental awareness and, by extension, to improve worker safety. A set of studies was conducted to assess the potential benefits of a level-dependent hearing protector operating in its passive and active modes, in quiet and in noise, for a range of listeners with normal hearing listening to reverse alarms. As expected, the detection of reverse alarms in quiet was improved in the active mode compared to the passive mode, but no significant benefit was found in noise. The active mode of the device only marginally helped to restore the sense of urgency conveyed by back-up alarms in noise, which was largely affected by passive attenuation.The localization of reverse alarms was slightly worse when wearing the device compared to unprotected listening, and was not improved in the active mode compared to the passive mode. In summary, when choosing a hearing protector to ensure adequate perception of reverse alarms, for example, different psychoacoustic tasks must be considered, also keeping in mind that level-dependent hearing protection does not necessarily restore performance to unprotected targets. |
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| ISSN: | 0001-4966 1520-8524 |
| DOI: | 10.1121/1.4970073 |