IRSST - Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail

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April 18, 2024

Development of tools and methods for better evaluating and improving workers’ personal hearing protection

Abstract

At the present time, approximately half a million Québec workers are exposed daily to noise levels capable of causing hearing problems, and some of them are dealing with the consequences of occupational deafness. While the elimination of noise at source is the most effective solution, it is sometimes impossible to do it, and the use of personal means of hearing protection is then necessary.

However, there are problems associated with the wearing of hearing protectors; they can mainly cause communication difficulties, and can be a risk cofactor for occupational accidents. Because it is difficult to choose and design an adapted hearing protector, they may not properly protect the user and may represent a risk to his hearing health. Due to the discomfort they cause, the recommended wearing time to limit noise exposure is not always respected. Finally, protector design is often based on empiricism without the optimization of performance and comfort.

The primary objective of this study is to develop tools and methods of measurement in order to better evaluate and improve the acoustical performances of hearing protectors, while integrating certain parameters that have an impact on comfort. The study includes the three types of protectors commonly used: ear muffs, ear plugs, and the dual protection consisting of the simultaneous use of ear muffs and ear plugs.

Produced Under this Project

  • Influence of source location, subjects and HPD size on the sound field around earmuffs

    Le Cocq C., Hugues Nélisse, Boutin J., Voix J., Laville F.

    Source :

    in Proceedings of the Acoustics Week in Canada, (October 12-14, 2011, Québec, Canada). Canadian Acoustics / Acoustique canadienne, vol. 39, no 3, 2011, p. 98-99

  • Development of an equivalent solid model to predict the vibroacoustic behavior of eamuff cushions

    Boyer S., Franck Sgard, Laville F., Hamdi M. A.

    Source :

    in Proceedings of the Acoustics Week in Canada, (October 12-14, 2011, Québec, Canada). Canadian Acoustics / Acoustique canadienne, vol. 39, no 3, 2011, p. 96-97

  • Development of a 3D finite element model of the human external ear for simulation of the auditory occlusion effect

    Brummund M., Petit Y., Franck Sgard, Laville F.

    Source :

    in Proceedings of the Acoustics Week in Canada, (October 12-14, 2011, Québec, Canada). Canadian Acoustics / Acoustique canadienne, vol. 39, no 3, 2011, p. 94-95

  • Development of a simplified axi-symmetric finite element model of the auditory canal occluded by an earplug: variability of the attenuation as a function of the input parameters

    Viallet G., Franck Sgard, Laville F.

    Source :

    in Proceedings of the Acoustics Week in Canada, (October 12-14, 2011, Québec, Canada). Canadian Acoustics / Acoustique canadienne, vol. 39, no 3, 2011, p. 100-101

  • A simplified axi-symmetric finite element model of the human outer ear to determine the earplug induced auditory occusion effect

    Brummund M., Franck Sgard, Petit Y., Laville F.

    Source :

    in 162nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, (162nd : October 31-November 4, 2011 : San Diego, USA). Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 130, no 4, 2011, p. 2469

  • Comparison of a 3 dimension model versus a 2 dimension-axisymmetric finite element model of an occluded ear canal

    Viallet G., Franck Sgard, Laville F.

    Source :

    in 162nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, (162nd : October 31-November 4, 2011 : San Diego, USA). Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 130, no 4, 2011, p. 2518

  • Estimation of noise levels and HPD attenuation in the workplace using microphones located in the vicinity of the ear

    Hugues Nélisse, Le Cocq C., Boutin J., Laville F., Voix J.

    Source :

    in Semaine canadienne d'acoustique, (10-12 octobre, 2012 : Banff, Canada), 2012

  • Acoustic finite element modeling of hearing protection devices

    Franck Sgard, Brummund M., Viallet G., Boyer S., Petit Y., Laville F., Boutin J.

    Source :

    in InterNoise 2012 (41th : August 19-22, 2012 : New York, USA), 2012, 12 p

  • On the influence of the material properties of the external ear on occlusion effect simulations

    Brummund M., Franck Sgard, Petit Y., Laville F.

    Source :

    in Semaine canadienne d'acoustique / CAA, (10-12 octobre, 2012 : Banff, Canada), 2012

  • Estimation of noise exposure level for subjects wearing hearing protector devices

    Le Cocq C., Hugues Nélisse, Boutin J. , Voix J., Laville F.

    Source :

    in 21st International Congress on Acoustics : Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, (21st : June 2-7, 2013 : Montréal, Canada), 2013, vol. 19, no 1, 8 p

  • Comparison of subjective and objective methods for the measurements of hearing protector devices attenuation and occlusion effect

    Hugues Nélisse, Le Cocq C., Boutin J. , Voix J., Laville F.

    Source :

    in 21st International Congress on Acoustics : Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, (21st : June 2-7, 2013 : Montréal, Canada), 2013, vol. 19, no 1, 7 p

  • Axisymmetric versus three-dimensional finite element models for predicting the attenuation of earplugs in rigid walled ear canals

    Viallet G., Franck Sgard, Laville F., Boutin J.

    Source :

    Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 134, no 6, 2013, p. 4470-4480

  • Sound transfer path analysis to model the vibroacoustic behaviour of a commercial earmuff

    Boyer S., Franck Sgard, Laville F.

    Source :

    in 21st International Congress on Acoustics : Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, (21st : June 2-7, 2013 : Montréal, Canada), 2013, vol. 19, no 1, 9 p

  • Implementation of a simplified, artificial external ear test fixture for measurement of the earplug induced auditory occlusion

    Brummond M., Franck Sgard, Petit Y., Laville F., Boutin J.

    Source :

    in 21st International Congress on Acoustics : Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, (21st : June 2-7, 2013 : Montréal, Canada), 2013, vol. 19, no 1, 7 p

  • Influence of the external ear tissue domains on the sound attenuation of an earplug predicted by a finite element model

    Viallet G., Franck Sgard, Laville F.

    Source :

    in 21st International Congress on Acoustics : Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, (21st : June 2-7, 2013 : Montréal, Canada), 2013, vol. 19, no 1, 8 p

  • Three-dimensional finite element modeling of the human external ear: simulation study of the bone conduction occlusion effect

    Brummund M. K., Franck Sgard, Petit Y., Laville F.

    Source :

    Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 135, no 3, 2014, p. 1433-1444

  • Objective assessment of the sound paths through earmuff components

    Boyer S., Doutres O., Franck Sgard, Laville F., Boutin J.

    Source :

    Applied Acoustics, vol. 83, 2014, p. 76-85

  • A finite element model to predict the sound attenuation of earplugs in an acoustical test fixture

    Viallet G., Franck Sgard, Laville F., Boutin J.

    Source :

    The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 136, no 3, 2014, p. 1269-1280

  • Prediction of airborne and structure borne sound transmission through hearing protectors using FEM

    Franck Sgard, Brummond M., Viallet G., Boyer S., Doutres O., Hugues Nélisse, Laville F., Petit Y., Boutin J.

    Source :

    in Improving the World through Noise Control : International congress on Noise Control Engineering / InterNoise 2014 (43rd : November 16-19, 2014 : Melbourne, Australia), 2014, 9 p

  • Systematic evaluation of the relationship between physical and psychoacoustical measurements of hearing protectors’ attenuation

    Hugues Nélisse, Le Cocq C., Boutin J. , Laville F., Voix J.

    Source :

    (2015). Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 12(12), 829-844. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2015.1053893

  • Investigation of the variability in earplugs sound attenuation measurements using a finite element model

    Viallet G., Franck Sgard, Laville F., Hugues Nélisse

    Source :

    (2015). Applied Acoustics, 89, 333-344. doi: 10.1016/j.apacoust.2014.10.007

  • Using finite element modeling to predict the effect of ear canal microphone positioning on the sound attenuation of hearing protectors

    Franck Sgard, Viallet G., Hugues Nélisse

    Source :

    Proceeding of 22nd International Congress on Sound and Vibration 2015 (ICSV 22), Florence, Italy, 2015, vol. 4 (p. 3360-3368).

  • A finite element model to improve noise reduction based attenuation measurement of earmuffs in a directional sound field

    Gaudreau M.-A., Franck Sgard, Laville F., Hugues Nélisse

    Source :

    (2017). Applied Acoustics, 119, 66-77. doi: 10.1016/j.apacoust.2016.12.003

  • An axisymmetric finite element model to study the earplug contribution to the bone conduction occlusion effect

    Brummund M.-K., Franck Sgard, Petit Y., Laville F., Hugues Nélisse

    Source :

    (2015). Acta Acustica united with Acustica, 101(4), 775-788.

  • Using finite–element modeling to predict the effect of sound incidence on the noise reduction based attenuation of earmuffs

    Franck Sgard, Gaudreau M.-A., Hugues Nélisse

    Source :

    Proceeding of 22nd International Congress on Acoustics, Buenos-Aires, Argentina, 2016 (p. 1-10). Retrieved from http://www.ica2016.org.ar/ica2016proceedings/ica2016/ICA2016-0098.pdf

  • Développement d'outils et de méthodes pour mieux évaluer et améliorer la protection auditive individuelle des travailleurs

    Franck Sgard, Hugues Nélisse

    Source :

    Communication présentée au Rendez-vous de la science de l'IRSST, Montréal, QC.

  • Measurement of earplugs insertion loss using a classical impedance tube

    Doutres O., Franck Sgard, Sgard G.

    Source :

    Communication présentée à 44th International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering (Internoise 2015): Implementing Noise Control Technology, San Francisco, CA, 2015 (p. 4773-4784).

  • Numerical study of the broadband vibro-acoustic response of an earmuff

    Carillo K., Franck Sgard, Doutres O.

    Source :

    (2018). Applied Acoustics, 134, 25-33. doi: 10.1016/j.apacoust.2017.12.025

  • A finite–element model to predict incidence dependent and diffuse field noise reduction based attenuation of earmuffs

    Franck Sgard, Hugues Nélisse, Benacchio S., Doutres O., Padois T., Gaudreau M.-A.

    Source :

    Communication présentée à la24th International Congress on Sound and Vibration (ICSV24) , London, Angleterre, 2017 (p. 1-8).

  • Numerical prediction of the broadband sound attenuation of a commercial earmuff: Impact of the cushion modeling

    Carillo K., Franck Sgard, Doutres O.

    Source :

    Communication présentée à Acoustics'17: Joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the European Acoustics Association, Boston, MA, 2017 (p. 3733). The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. doi: 10.1121/1.4988200

  • Simulation numérique de l’atténuation sonore d’un protecteur auditif de type casque anti-bruit

    Carillo K., Doutres O., Franck Sgard

    Source :

    Communication présentée au39e Congrès de l’AQHSST : prévenir au quotidien, nouveaux enjeux, nouveaux défis, Victoriaville, QC. [Affiche].

  • Low frequency finite element models of the acoustical behavior of earmuffs

    Boyer S., Doutres O., Franck Sgard, Laville F., Boutin J.

    Source :

    (2015). Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 137(5), 2602-2613.

  • Systematic evaluation of the relationship between subjective and objective measurement methods of hearing protector devices attenuation

    Hugues Nélisse, Le Cocq C., Boutin J. , Voix J., Laville F.

    Source :

    C. Glorieux (dir), Communication présentée à Proceedings of EuroNoise 2015, Maastricht, Pays-Bas, 2015 (p. 1973-1978).

Additional Information

Type: Project
Number: 0099-7630
Status: Completed
Year of completion: 2015
Team:
  • Franck Sgard (IRSST)
  • Hugues Nélisse (IRSST)
  • Frédéric Laville (École de technologie supérieure)
  • Yvan Petit (École de technologie supérieure)
  • Jérémie Voix (École de technologie supérieure)
  • Cécile Le Cocq (École de technologie supérieure)
  • Mike Stinson (Conseil national de recherches Canada)
  • Gilles Daigle (Conseil national de recherches Canada)
  • Jérôme Boutin (IRSST)