Hardwood Floors August/September 2019

KJELL NYMARK One of the most important pieces of PPE for someone in our industry is hearing protection. All the power tools we use are incredibly noisy. Wearing ear plugs or ear muffs is essential to minimizing hearing loss. Sanding floors is probably the noisiest thing we do. The equipment we use is loud, and we run this equipment all day. Prolonged exposure to the noise created by these machines will significantly affect your hearing. I have noticed that many contractors have taken to wearing ear muffs that have a radio in them. I think that it’s not a good idea to wear these for a few reasons. First, I feel it’s important to hear how your equipment is running. You can tell a lot about how your machine is running by what you hear. Secondly, when you back-up with the big machine you are usually looking down at the machine to make sure you are staying in line, your hearing helps you know when you are approaching a wall or other obstructions behind you when you are looking forward. Thirdly, if your radio is turned up loud enough to drown out the machine noise, then the music your playing is probably loud enough to affect your hearing. g

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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