Personnel in industrial and commercial environments, even in a domestic home situation or on farms, experience loud noise to some degree. In factories noise can reach unacceptable, unhealthy levels.

Pretoria-based Noise-Ban, part of the Hass Group, showcased its products at Securex 2024 last week. The company says it has been protecting people’s hearing since 1992.

Its hearing conservation management programme starts with consultation and a needs assessment, through an impression-taking and fitment, to an optional otoacoustic emissions (OAE) and tympanometry test. The OAE test is used to measure how well one’s inner ear, or cochlea, functions when responding to a sound. There are hair cells in the inner ear that respond to sound by vibrating.

An audiologist uses tympanometry to determine how well the eardrum moves by pushing a small amount of air into the ear with a small device like an earphone. The result is shown on a graph on the tympanogram.

In an annual monitoring session, the OAE and tympanometry test can be repeated to evaluate the efficacy of the product. More than a million Noise-Ban custom-made hearing protection devices has been fitted since 1992.

As a complete hearing healthcare service provider since 1975, Hass Industrial counts numerous well-known South African industrial enterprises as customers. These include the likes of Anglo-American, Sasol, Exxaro, AfriSam, Afrox, South African Airways, Siemens and Consol.