Hearing protection for workers sounds good on HS2 rail construction sites
noise
Major construction outfits have teamed up with hearing tech developers to raise the benchmark for protecting workers against noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) on the UK's highest-profile building and engineering project.
The HS2 high-speed railway, currently in the early stages of construction, brings together Costain and Skanska—as the Costain-Skanska joint venture (CSjv)—for a project keen to project an image in line with environmentalist thinking and health and safety objectives. Now, CSjv is working together with Eave, a smart technology company created to boost the prevention of avoidable deafness through the monitoring of, and protection against, damaging noise levels.
By deploying Eave's Hear-Through technology, workers on HS2 sites have hearing protection that allows them to continue to hear environmental sound, thus enhancing safety for workers. And while at work, the smart headsets monitor and map noise exposure, analysing the data in real time to provide information about each worker’s noise exposure across a site.
“CSjv aims to support HS2’s mission to eliminate the causes of the top five occupational diseases in construction. Our trial with Eave gave measurable results that radically improved our hearing protection measures on site. We are now implementing this change across all our HS2 sites to ensure a greater level of safety for our operatives.” explains Sandra Winters, Occupational Health Lead for CSjv.
The joint project got off the ground in 2019, when Eave and CSjv won Innovate UK funding from the Department of Transport to trial their hearing conservation solution with HS2.
Dr. David Greenberg, Eave CEO, said: “It has been a great pleasure to work with CSjv, Innovate UK and HS2 to showcase how innovative smart tech solutions can do so much more than conventional hearing protection to manage noise on site. Their support has been fundamental in the development of our products, testing our active ear defenders and noise monitoring equipment. We are now working with all CSjv subcontractors to ensure they are ready for the 1st September deadline, working together to protect the hearing of workers in hazardous noise.”
For more information on Eave's hearing protection technology, click here.
Source: Eave
