Recent inspections by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have exposed major failings in workplace hearing protection, highlighting widespread gaps in training, equipment management, and employee awareness.
The campaign focused on workplaces with noise levels requiring mandatory hearing protection. Inspections found that over three-quarters of employees lacked essential knowledge about storing, checking, and reporting faults with their hearing protection. Alarmingly, 63% had not been instructed on the importance of wearing protection consistently when exposed to harmful noise.
Training deficiencies were particularly pronounced. Around 80% of employees had not received guidance on proper wearing techniques, including avoiding interference from hats or hoods, keeping hair clear of earmuffs, or ensuring compatibility with other personal protective equipment (PPE) such as hard hats and eye protection.
Even more concerning, 95% of employers had failed to check whether hearing protection prevented workers from detecting critical warning signals, such as fire alarms or vehicle reversing alerts.
'The gaps we’ve found are serious.' noted Chris Steel, HSE’s principal specialist inspector. 'Workers may believe they are protected, but without proper checks, hearing protection may not provide the safety it is supposed to. Employers must ensure equipment works, is worn correctly, and does not block essential warning signals.'
To help tackle these issues, the regulator is promoting the CUFF checking system, designed to assess the effectiveness of hearing protection. CUFF stands for Condition (equipment integrity), Use (proper deployment), Fit the ear (correct wearing), and Fit for purpose (appropriate specification).
The HSE said it will provide guidance through industry events and webinars, offering practical advice on implementing effective hearing protection programmes and using the CUFF system to reduce the risk of noise-induced hearing damage in the workplace.