# Hearing protection

URL: https://hardhatbinder.com/en/toolbox-talks/hearing-protection
Last updated: 2026-10-23

Noise on our jobs is loud every day: saws, grinders, jackhammers, compressors, and heavy equipment. Hearing loss happens slowly, it does not hurt, and it does not come back. What you protect today is what you will hear with your family later.

## Key points

1. Use the shout test: if you have to raise your voice to talk to someone an arm's length away, it is too loud. Put on hearing protection.
2. Roll foam earplugs into a thin tube, pull your ear up and back, and push the plug in. Hold it for a few seconds while it expands.
3. Earmuffs must seal around your ears. Hair, hoodies, or safety glasses arms under the cushion let noise in, so adjust them.
4. Keep protection in for the whole time the noise is on. Pulling it out for even a few minutes during loud work cuts the protection a lot.
5. Do not use cotton, tissue, or music earbuds as hearing protection. They do not block enough noise, and music adds more.
6. Check your earplugs and muffs before use. Throw out dirty or flattened plugs, and replace muffs with cracked cushions; ask your foreman for new ones.
7. Protect the people around you too. Warn coworkers before you start a loud tool, and keep compressors and generators away from where people work when possible.

## Talk it over

- What are the loudest tools or machines on this site right now, and where do you hear them?
- Have you noticed ringing in your ears or muffled hearing after a shift? What were you working on?
- What makes it hard to keep your hearing protection on, and what would help?

> **Remember:** If you have to shout, protect your ears. Hearing lost does not come back.

## Official sources

- [29 CFR 1926.52](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/section-1926.52) — Occupational noise exposure
- [29 CFR 1926.101](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/section-1926.101) — Hearing protection

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Source: HardHat Binder, operated by Leadspire LLC. Templates to be reviewed by a competent person before use; not legal advice; not affiliated with OSHA.