Development of Mexican standard on hearing protection devices

A working group was established by the Secretaria del Trabajo (similar to OSHA) to work on a standard whose objective was to protect workers from noise by trying to predict the performance of HPDs as personal protection equipment in the workplace. Various standards were analyzed including ISO4869, AS‐NZ 1270, and ANSI. All evaluate attenuation as a performance descriptor. Experimenter‐Fit methods tend to overrate field performance due to very different field versus laboratory conditions. Subject‐Fit methods result in lower attenuation values which are more likely to be achieved by groups of workers, even if inadequately motivated and trained. Subject‐Fit methods encountered large resistance, including laboratories’ difficulties in finding naive subjects, commercial interests of manufacturers, risk of overprotection, etc. Having settled for an Experimenter‐Fit method, the intent is to do more to help protect workers’ hearing through other means available. A thorough, yet fairly simple, HPD Selection and Usage Guide was prepared as an Informative Appendix. Relevant information should be provided to the user with the Packaging. NRR wars should be avoided. The standard includes a list of contents, instructions, and warnings that must be included. A sample label containing key information is detailed in another Informative Appendix.