Collection: Ear Defenders

Ear defenders fit without training and can be checked visually from a distance, which makes them the easiest protection to enforce on a site. Their drawback is heat, and that is what makes people take them off.

The 5 references in the catalogue

• 3M Peltor Optime III, high attenuation.
• 3M Peltor X4A.
• 3M Peltor Protac III MT13H221A, level-dependent attenuation.
• 3M WorkTunes Connect Bluetooth 90543E.

See also our hearing protection and our earplugs.

Too much attenuation is a flaw

Excessive protection cuts the operator off from useful signals: alarms, an approaching forklift, an abnormal machine noise. It also pushes people to remove the defenders to communicate, which cancels all protection.

Models with level-dependent attenuation let speech and quiet sounds through while cutting peaks. At a workstation where you must stay in contact, they are worn continuously, and that is the only criterion that really counts.

Glasses, the most frequent leak

A glasses temple passing under the cushion creates an air path. Real attenuation then drops by several decibels, with nothing to signal it.

Thin or flat temples, or goggles with a headband, solve the problem. It is something to check when equipping a workstation, not afterwards.

Cushions are consumables

The cushion foam compresses, hardens and cracks with sweat and time. Defenders with hard cushions no longer apply even pressure and leak.

Replacing them once or twice a year with daily wear costs far less than new defenders, and restores the original attenuation.