Editing Personal protective equipment (section)

===Hearing protection===
{{Main|Hearing protection}}
[[File:SafetyGlassesAndEarplugs.jpg|thumb|A PPE station, containing [[eye protection]] and [[Earplug|earplugs]], as well as a place to dispose of dirty glasses.]]
[[Industrial noise]] is often overlooked as an occupational hazard, as it is not visible to the eye. Overall, about 22&nbsp;million workers in the United States are exposed to potentially damaging noise levels each year.<ref name="noise">[https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/stats.html CDC - Noise and Hearing Loss Prevention - Facts and Statistics - NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703145248/http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/stats.html |date=2016-07-03 }}. The National Institute for Occuaptional Safety and Health.</ref> Occupational hearing loss accounted for 14% of all occupational illnesses in 2007, with about 23,000 cases significant enough to cause permanent hearing impairment.<ref name="noise" /> About 82% of occupational hearing loss cases occurred to workers in the manufacturing sector.<ref name="noise" />  In the US the [[Occupational Safety and Health Administration]] establishes occupational noise exposure standards.<ref name="oshanoise">[https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=standards&p_id=9735 Occupational noise exposure - 1910.95] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402213424/https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=standards&p_id=9735 |date=2015-04-02 }}. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration.</ref>  The [[National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health]]  recommends that worker exposures to noise be reduced to a level equivalent to 85&nbsp;dBA for eight hours to reduce occupational [[noise-induced hearing loss]].<ref name="criteria">[https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/98-126/pdfs/98-126.pdf Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Noise Exposure] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202172749/https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/98-126/pdfs/98-126.pdf |date=2017-02-02 }}.  DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 98-126.</ref>

PPE for hearing protection consists of [[earplugs]] and [[earmuffs]]. Workers who are regularly exposed to noise levels above the NIOSH recommendation should be provided with hearing protection by the employers, as they are a low-cost intervention. A personal attenuation rating can be objectively measured through a [[hearing protection fit-testing]] system. The effectiveness of hearing protection varies with the training offered on their use.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tikka|first1=Christina|last2=Verbeek|first2=Jos H|last3=Kateman|first3=Erik|last4=Morata|first4=Thais C|last5=Dreschler|first5=Wouter A|last6=Ferrite|first6=Silvia|date=2017-07-07|title=Interventions to prevent occupational noise-induced hearing loss|journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews|volume=2017|issue=7|pages=CD006396|doi=10.1002/14651858.CD006396.pub4|issn=1469-493X|pmc=6353150|pmid=28685503}}</ref> On January 2025 NIOSH published a Science Policy Update recommending employers use individual, quantitative fit testing to evaluate the attenuation received by workers from their hearing protection devices.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=NIOSH |first=National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health |date=2025-01-16 |title=NIOSH science policy update: individual fit-testing recommendation for hearing protection devices |url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2025-104/ |journal=NIOSH Policy Update |language=en-us |doi=10.26616/NIOSHPUB2025104}}</ref>